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Questions & Answers about Der Boden ist glatt.
Why is der used before Boden?
Der is the definite article for masculine nouns in the nominative singular. Boden is a masculine noun in German, and since it’s the subject of the sentence, it takes der.
What case is Der Boden in, and why?
It’s in the nominative case because Der Boden is the grammatical subject. In German, the subject of a sentence always appears in the nominative.
Why doesn’t glatt take an ending here?
After a form of sein (to be), adjectives are used predicatively and remain uninflected. Predicative adjectives never take endings, so it’s simply glatt, not glatte or glatter.
How would it look if I wanted to use glatt attributively (before the noun)?
When an adjective directly modifies a noun (attributive use), it must be inflected. With the definite article for a masculine nominative noun you get: der glatte Boden.
What’s the difference between glatt and rutschig?
Glatt means “smooth” (lacking roughness). Rutschig means “slippery” (tending to cause slipping). A surface can be smooth without being dangerous to walk on (glatt, but not rutschig), or slippery but not particularly smooth.
How do you pronounce Boden and glatt?
Boden is pronounced [ˈboːdn̩] (long “o” + syllabic “n”). Glatt is [ɡlat] (short “a” and a clear “t” at the end).
Why is the verb ist used here?
Ist is the third-person singular present tense of sein (“to be”). Since Der Boden is a single entity, you use ist to link it with the adjective glatt.