Breakdown of Der Herbst ist kühl, aber oft sehr schön.
sein
to be
oft
often
aber
but
sehr
very
schön
beautiful
der Herbst
the autumn
kühl
cool
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Questions & Answers about Der Herbst ist kühl, aber oft sehr schön.
Why is Herbst capitalized?
In German, all nouns are capitalized. Since Herbst (autumn) is a noun, it must start with a capital letter.
Why is the definite article der used before Herbst? Could we say Herbst ist kühl?
Unlike English (“Spring is nice”), German seasons normally take the definite article when they act as a subject. Saying Der Herbst ist kühl is the standard way to personify the season. Dropping der and saying Herbst ist kühl sounds unnatural. If you want a weather statement, you’d usually switch to Im Herbst ist es kühl (“In autumn it’s cool”).
Why is there no ending on the adjective kühl?
Here kühl follows the verb sein as a predicative adjective (it describes the subject rather than directly modifying a noun). Predicative adjectives in German remain uninflected, so they appear in their base form.
Why is there a comma before aber?
In German, coordinate conjunctions like aber (“but”) require a comma when they link clauses or major sentence parts. The comma signals a clear break before the contrasting idea.
Why do we not repeat ist before oft sehr schön?
German allows ellipsis to avoid repetition. Here ist applies to both adjectives. The structure is essentially “Der Herbst ist kühl, aber (er ist) oft sehr schön.” Omitting the second ist makes the sentence more concise.
What part of speech is oft, and why is it placed before sehr?
Oft is an adverb of frequency (“often”). German adverbs of frequency generally come before other adverbs (like sehr) and adjectives. So the order is oft (frequency) + sehr (degree) + schön (adjective).
Why is sehr used here, and why does schön have no ending?
Sehr is a degree adverb meaning “very,” modifying the adjective schön (“beautiful/nice”). Like kühl, schön appears predicatively after sein and therefore stays in its base form without any ending.
Why is the verb ist in the present tense instead of the past?
The present tense in German is frequently used to state general truths or characteristics. Since we’re describing an ongoing or typical quality of autumn, Der Herbst ist kühl uses the present tense. A past tense (war) would imply a specific past occurrence.
Could we rephrase the sentence as Im Herbst ist es kühl, aber oft sehr schön? What’s the difference?
Yes. Im Herbst ist es kühl (“In autumn it’s cool”) is the most common way to talk about weather conditions. You use the impersonal es (“it”) and say im (in + dem). The original Der Herbst ist kühl personifies the season itself. Both are correct, but Im Herbst ist es kühl is more idiomatic for weather statements.