Breakdown of In der Abteilung des Museums hängt ein altes Gemälde.
in
in
alt
old
das Museum
the museum
hängen
to hang
die Abteilung
the department
das Gemälde
the painting
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Questions & Answers about In der Abteilung des Museums hängt ein altes Gemälde.
Why does in take the dative case here (“in der”, not “in die”)?
German prepositions can govern different cases depending on meaning. in uses:
- the dative (Wo? – location)
- the accusative (Wohin? – direction/movement)
Here we’re stating where the painting hangs (location), so we use dative. The feminine noun die Abteilung becomes der Abteilung in dative.
Why is des Museums in the genitive case?
We need to show possession or belonging (“the museum’s department”). German typically does this with the genitive. The genitive singular of das Museum is des Museums, so Abteilung des Museums means “department of the museum.”
Why does Museum get an extra -s in the genitive?
Most masculine and neuter nouns add -s (or -es for very short words) in the genitive singular. Museum is neuter and takes the simple -s: des Museums.
Can I replace des Museums with vom Museum?
Yes. Colloquially you can avoid the genitive by using von + dative: von dem Museum → vom Museum. It’s common in speech, though the genitive (des Museums) is preferred in formal or written German.
Why is ein altes Gemälde in the nominative case?
In this sentence ein altes Gemälde is the subject: it’s what “hangs.” Subjects in German are in the nominative case, so the indefinite article and adjective agree accordingly.
Why does the adjective alt take the ending -es here?
After an indefinite article in the nominative neuter, the article has no ending (just ein), so the adjective carries the strong declension ending -es: ein + alt → ein altes Gemälde.
Why does the verb hängt appear before the subject?
German main clauses are verb-second (V2). Any element (here the prepositional phrase In der Abteilung des Museums) in first position pushes the finite verb to second, so the subject (ein altes Gemälde) comes after hängt.
Could I start the sentence with the subject instead?
Absolutely. You can also say Ein altes Gemälde hängt in der Abteilung des Museums. German allows flexibility to emphasize different parts: starting with the subject emphasizes the painting rather than the location.
Why isn’t there an accusative object after hängt?
Here hängen is used in its static sense (“to be hanging”). The thing that hangs (ein altes Gemälde) is the subject. When you hang something up (dynamic sense), you use an accusative object:
Ich hänge ein Bild (Akkusativ) an die Wand (Dativ direction).