Learn Hardcore German: Das Ticket für die U‑Bahn ist nicht teuer. - The ticket for the subway is not expensive.

German nouns have one of three genders: masculine, feminine or neuter. Ticket, borrowed from English, is classified as neuter, so it takes the definite article das. There is no strict rule for predicting noun gender; you generally have to memorize it or consult a dictionary. For comparison:

der Zug (train) is masculine
die U-Bahn (subway) is feminine
das Auto (car) is neuter

Why do we say für die U‑Bahn and what case does that take?

The preposition für means for.
für always takes the accusative case.
die U‑Bahn is feminine in nominative; in accusative feminine, the article remains die.
So für die U‑Bahn literally means “for the subway.”

Why is U‑Bahn capitalized and written with a hyphen?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, including abbreviations.
U‑Bahn is short for Untergrundbahn (underground railway).
The hyphen separates the single letter U (for Untergrund) from Bahn, making the compound clear.

Can we use U‑Bahnticket instead of Ticket für die U‑Bahn?

Yes. German often forms compound nouns:

U‑Bahnticket is a perfectly correct and common compound meaning “subway ticket.”
It remains neuter, so you say das U‑Bahnticket.
Both versions are understood, but the compound is more concise in everyday speech.

Why does the sentence start with Das Ticket and then have ist in second position?

German main clauses follow the “verb-second” (V2) rule:

Any one element (subject, adverb, etc.) goes first.
The finite verb occupies the second position.
The rest of the sentence follows.
Here Das Ticket (subject) is first, ist (verb) is second, then nicht teuer.

Why is nicht placed before teuer at the end?

When negating an adjective, nicht is placed immediately before that adjective. Since teuer is the word being negated, nicht comes directly in front of it. With nothing else after teuer, the negation naturally falls at the end of the clause.

Is nicht teuer the same as billig?

Not exactly.

nicht teuer literally means not expensive and is a neutral statement about price.
billig means cheap but often implies lower quality or a slightly negative judgment.
If you want a positive way to say something is reasonably priced, you can use preiswert or günstig instead.

How do you turn Das Ticket für die U‑Bahn ist nicht teuer into a yes/no question?

Invert the subject and the verb, keeping the rest intact:
Ist das Ticket für die U‑Bahn nicht teuer?
This asks “Is the ticket for the subway not expensive?” You could also ask Ist das Ticket für die U‑Bahn teuer?, expecting the answer “No, it’s not.”