…
Breakdown of Die Sonne scheint hell über dem Fluss.
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
die Sonne
the sun
hell
bright
der Fluss
the river
über
over
Questions & Answers about Die Sonne scheint hell über dem Fluss.
Why does der Fluss change to dem Fluss in this sentence?
In German, certain prepositions require specific cases. The preposition über here indicates a location (where something is happening), and it’s combined with the dative case. dem Fluss is the dative form of der Fluss.
Could I have used “über den Fluss” instead?
Yes, if there was movement across or over the river (for instance, Der Vogel fliegt über den Fluss – “The bird is flying over the river”), über would be followed by the accusative (den). In the sentence Die Sonne scheint hell über dem Fluss, there is no movement, just a location, so the dative (dem) is correct.
What does hell mean here, and can I replace it with another word?
hell means “bright” in this context and describes how the sun is shining. If you want a synonym, you could say something like klar (clear), but hell is the most common choice to describe bright sunlight.
How is scheint conjugated?
scheint is the third-person singular present tense form of the verb scheinen. The conjugation in present tense is:
- ich scheine
- du scheinst
- er/sie/es scheint
- wir scheinen
- ihr scheint
- sie/Sie scheinen
Is the word order here flexible?
Yes, German word order is somewhat flexible, but keeping the verb in the second position is key. You could say, for example, Hell scheint die Sonne über dem Fluss, but that would sound stylistically marked and less natural. The most standard form is Die Sonne scheint hell über dem Fluss.
More from this lesson
AI Language TutorTry it ↗
“How do German cases work?”
German has four grammatical cases: nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), dative (indirect object), and genitive (possession). The case determines the form of articles and adjectives. For example, "the dog" is "der Hund" as a subject but "den Hund" as a direct object.
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning GermanMaster German — from Die Sonne scheint hell über dem Fluss to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods.
- ✓ Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓ Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓ Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions