Questions & Answers about Der Himmel ist blau.
Unfortunately there’s no perfect rule for gender. You can
- Consult a good dictionary (it will list m/f/n),
- Learn common endings (e.g. -ung words are usually feminine),
- Memorize with the noun (e.g. learn “der Himmel” as a single phrase).
In this sentence blau is a predicate adjective (it follows a copular verb like sein). Predicate adjectives are not inflected, so you simply use the base form blau.
By contrast, attributive adjectives (those placed directly before a noun) do take endings. For example: “der blaue Himmel.”
German main clauses follow the verb-second (V2) rule: the finite verb must come in the second position, even if you begin with something other than the subject. Here the order is:
1) Der Himmel (subject)
2) ist (verb)
3) blau (predicate adjective)
Place the adjective before the noun and give it the correct ending for masculine nominative singular: der + blaue + Himmel → der blaue Himmel
A typical Standard German pronunciation in IPA is:
Der [deːɐ̯]
Himmel [ˈhɪməl]
ist [ɪst]
blau [blaʊ̯]