Breakdown of In der Hitze der Wüste ist Wasser kostbar.
sein
to be
in
in
das Wasser
the water
die Hitze
the heat
Questions & Answers about In der Hitze der Wüste ist Wasser kostbar.
Why is der Hitze in the dative, while der Wüste is in the genitive?
The preposition in expresses a static location here, which in German requires the dative case. Hitze is feminine, so its dative singular form is der Hitze. The phrase der Wüste uses the genitive case to show possession or “of-ness” (“heat of the desert”). Since Wüste is also feminine, its genitive singular is der Wüste.
When does in take the dative versus the accusative?
In is a two-way (Wechsel-) preposition:
• Use the dative for a static location (Wo?): In der Wüste – “in the desert.”
• Use the accusative for movement into somewhere (Wohin?): In die Wüste gehen – “to go into the desert.”
Why is there no article before Wasser?
Wasser is an uncountable (mass) noun when spoken about in a general sense. German typically drops the article for mass nouns in general statements. If you were specifying a particular water (e.g. the water in a glass), you would include an article: Das Wasser im Glas.
Why isn’t kostbar inflected with an ending?