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Questions & Answers about Die Treppe ist lang.
Why is the article die used before Treppe?
German nouns have grammatical gender—masculine, feminine, or neuter. Treppe is feminine, so its nominative singular definite article is die.
Which grammatical case is die Treppe in Die Treppe ist lang?
It’s in the nominative case because it functions as the subject of the verb ist (is).
Why doesn’t the adjective lang take an ending (like lange) here?
When an adjective follows a verb like sein (to be) in a predicative position, it remains uninflected. Hence ist lang rather than ist lange.
How would you say “a long staircase” using an indefinite article and an attributive adjective?
You’d say eine lange Treppe. Here lange takes the -e ending to agree with the feminine singular indefinite article eine.
How do you pronounce Treppe?
It’s pronounced [ˈtʁɛpə]. The final -e is a schwa, like the “a” in English “sofa.”
What is the plural of die Treppe, and how is it used?
The plural is die Treppen, meaning “the staircases” or “the individual stairs/steps.” In everyday speech, Germans sometimes use die Stufen (steps) to refer to a series of stairs.
Could lang ever refer to duration instead of physical length?
Yes. Lang can describe time, as in einen langen Tag (“a long day”). In Die Treppe ist lang, however, it clearly refers to the staircase’s length.
How would you translate Die Treppe ist lang most naturally into English?
You could say “The staircase is long” or simply “The stairs are long,” depending on whether you emphasize the structure (staircase) or the steps (stairs).
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“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.
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