Der Raum ist leer.

to be

Breakdown of Der Raum ist leer.

• leer: empty
• der Raum: the room

Questions & Answers about Der Raum ist leer.

Why is the article Der used before Raum, and not das or die?

In German every noun has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. Raum is a masculine noun, so it takes the masculine definite article der in the nominative case.

• der Raum (masculine)
• die Tür (feminine)
• das Fenster (neuter)

Why is the adjective leer not declined to leere in Der Raum ist leer?

When an adjective follows a form of the verb sein (to be), it functions as a predicative adjective and remains in its base form (no ending). In other words, sein + adjective never requires adjective declension:

• Der Raum ist leer.
  If you instead use the adjective attributively (directly before a noun), you must decline it:
• Der leere Raum (nominative, masculine)

What is the sentence structure of Der Raum ist leer?

This is a simple S-V-P (Subject-Verb-Predicative) structure:

1. Subject: Der Raum
2. Verb: ist (third-person singular of sein)
3. Predicative adjective: leer