Learn Hardcore German: Die Nacht ist ruhig.

In German, nouns almost always need an article. Die indicates the specific noun Nacht, which is a feminine noun in German. Using Die shows that we’re talking about the night in particular. If you said Eine Nacht, it would often imply a (possibly unspecified) night, and leaving out the article altogether would be ungrammatical in standard German.

Why is Nacht considered feminine?

In German, each noun has a grammatical gender: masculine (der), feminine (die), or neuter (das). You generally have to memorize these when learning new words. Nacht happens to be one of the nouns that is categorized as feminine, so it always takes die as its definite article.

Could I say Die Nacht ist still instead of Die Nacht ist ruhig?

Yes, you could. Still basically means quiet or silent, while ruhig means calm, peaceful, quiet. Both are correct and convey a similar idea that there is not much noise or commotion. However, ruhig can also suggest a calm atmosphere or a sense of serenity, whereas still might simply mean no sound.

How do I pronounce ruhig correctly?

It’s pronounced with a slight “ch” sound at the end: roo-ich. The “r” in ruhig is typically guttural in many German dialects. The “ui” is pronounced like a quick combination of the “u” in put and the “ee” in see. The tricky part is the ending “-ig,” which sounds roughly like “ich” rather than a hard “g.”

Is the word order always subject → verb → adjective in a German sentence like this?

For a basic, declarative sentence, yes. The typical word order in main clauses is subject → verb → everything else. Here, Die Nacht (subject) comes first, then ist (verb), and then ruhig (adjective complement). German can have more flexible word order in other contexts, but for a simple statement, this is the most common structure.