Das Zitat steht im Buch.

The quote is in the book.

Breakdown of Das Zitat steht im Buch.

• in: in
• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• stehen: to stand
• das Buch: the book
• das Zitat: the quote

Questions & Answers about Das Zitat steht im Buch.

Why is Zitat a neuter noun in German and not masculine or feminine?

In German every noun has one of three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter).

• Zitat ends in –at, a suffix borrowed from Latin. Many German nouns with this ending (e.g. Apparat, Format) are neuter.
• Unfortunately, you often have to learn the gender along with the noun or look it up in a dictionary.

Why do we use the verb steht instead of simply saying ist in this sentence?

German often uses verbs of position (stehen, liegen, hängen, sitzen) to describe where something is located.

• stehen literally means “to stand,” but idiomatically it also means “to be printed” or “to be positioned upright.”
• Saying Das Zitat steht im Buch emphasizes that the quotation is “standing” (i.e. printed) in the book.
• You could say ist (“is”), but it sounds less natural if you want to pinpoint where printed text can be found.

What case is used in im Buch, and why?

im is the contraction of in + dem, so it’s dative.

• The preposition in is a two-way preposition:
  • accusative for movement or direction (“into”),
  • dative for location or position (“in”).
• Here we describe a static location (“where the quote is”), so we use dative: in dem Buch → im Buch.

What’s the difference between im and ins, and could we say ins Buch?

• im = in + dem (dative singular), used for location.
• ins = in + das (accusative singular), used for movement into something.
  You cannot use ins Buch here because that would imply you’re putting the quote into the book (movement), not saying where it already is.

Is steht here literal or idiomatic?

It’s idiomatic.

• Literally, stehen means “to stand.”
• When talking about text, Germans say that words “stand” on a page. So steht im Buch really means “is written in the book.”

Why are Zitat and Buch capitalized?

In German every noun—no matter where it appears in the sentence—is capitalized. That’s a core spelling rule to help you spot nouns quickly.

Are there other verbs like stehen to describe where things are?

Yes, German uses several position verbs based on an object’s orientation or context:

• stehen (“to stand”): vertical or printed objects
• liegen (“to lie”): flat or horizontal objects
• hängen (“to hang”): objects suspended or hanging
• sitzen (“to sit”): typically people or animals in a seated position
  For text in a book or on a sign, stehen is the usual choice.