Breakdown of Das Buch im Geschäft ist billig.
sein
to be
in
in
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
das Buch
the book
das Geschäft
the store
billig
cheap
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Questions & Answers about Das Buch im Geschäft ist billig.
Why do we say im instead of in dem in im Geschäft?
im is simply the contraction of in dem. In German, the preposition in plus the definite article dem (dative masculine or neuter) is commonly shortened to im.
What case is Geschäft in, and why?
Geschäft is in the dative case because when in expresses location (wo? – where?), it takes the dative. Hence in dem Geschäft → im Geschäft.
What case is das Buch in, and how can I tell?
das Buch is the nominative case. It’s the subject of the sentence (the thing doing or being something), and German subjects always appear in the nominative.
Why isn’t billig inflected with an ending like attributive adjectives?
Here billig is a predicate adjective following the linking verb ist. Predicate adjectives in German remain in their base form and do not take endings.
Why is the verb ist in the second position?
German main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule. That means whatever constituent (subject, adverbial, object, etc.) comes first, the finite verb must come next. In Das Buch im Geschäft ist billig, the entire phrase Das Buch im Geschäft counts as position one, so ist is position two.
Can I move im Geschäft to the front for emphasis?
Yes. German allows topicalization. For example:
Im Geschäft ist das Buch billig.
Here you emphasize where by placing the location first; the verb still stays in second position.
How would I say “a cheap book in the store” instead of “the book in the store is cheap”?
Use an attributive adjective with the indefinite article:
Ein billiges Buch im Geschäft.
Notice billiges now takes the ending -es, because attributive adjectives must agree in gender (neuter), case (nominative), and number (singular) with the noun.