Die Lampe hängt an der Decke.

The lamp hangs from the ceiling.

Breakdown of Die Lampe hängt an der Decke.

• an: on
• die Lampe: the lamp
• der: the; (feminine, dative)
• hängen: to hang
• die Decke: the ceiling

Questions & Answers about Die Lampe hängt an der Decke.

Why is Lampe capitalized and why do we use die before it?

In German, all nouns are always written with a capital letter, so Lampe starts with L. Additionally, every noun has a grammatical gender. Lampe is feminine, and when it acts as the subject of a sentence in the nominative case, its singular article is die (not der or das).

What is the difference between hängen and aufhängen, and why is hängen used here?

German actually has two related verbs:

• hängen (intransitive): means “to be hanging” (something hangs by itself).
• aufhängen (transitive): means “to hang up” (you actively hang something).
  In Die Lampe hängt an der Decke, the lamp is already hanging on its own, so we use the intransitive hängen.

Why do we say an der Decke (with der) and when would it be an die Decke?

an is a so-called two-way (Wechsel-)preposition.

• For a static location (no movement), you use the dative case → an der Decke.
• If you describe moving something onto/onto that surface, you use the accusative → Ich hänge die Lampe an die Decke (I hang the lamp up on the ceiling).

How do you pronounce the ä in hängt and in Decke?

• In hängt, the ä is pronounced like the e in English bed, giving [hɛŋt] (short e, then ng, then a clear t).
• In Decke, the first e is also [ɛ] and the second e is a schwa [ə], so overall [ˈdɛkə].

What is the past participle of hängen (in the sense of “to be hanging”)? Why do I see both gehangen and gehängt?

• For the intransitive hängen (“to be hanging”), the correct past participle is gehangen:
  Die Lampe hat an der Decke gehangen.
• gehängt belongs to the transitive use (or to aufhängen) when you hang something up:
  Ich habe das Bild gehängt.

How can I tell that Decke here means “ceiling” and not “blanket”?

German uses the same word Decke for both “ceiling” and “blanket,” but context and prepositions help you decide:

• “Ceiling” often appears with location prepositions like an der Decke (on the ceiling) or an der Wand (on the wall).
• “Blanket” would normally be under you (unter einer Decke) or described with verbs like zudecken (to cover with a blanket).

Can I say Die Lampe hängt von der Decke instead of an der Decke?

Although English often uses “from the ceiling,” the idiomatic German phrase for a lamp suspended against the ceiling is hängen an der Decke. You could poetically say Die Lampe hängt von der Decke herab (“hangs down from the ceiling”), but in everyday German you’ll almost always hear an der Decke.