Questions & Answers about Die Küste liegt weit weg.
Why is the article die used before Küste?
die is the feminine singular nominative article. In German every noun has a grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter), and Küste (coast) is feminine. You always learn German nouns together with their definite article.
What case is die Küste in, and how can I tell?
Die Küste is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence—the thing that “lies” somewhere. In German, the subject of a clause is marked by the nominative case.
Why is the verb liegt used instead of ist?
Liegen (to lie) is the typical verb for indicating the geographical or physical location of something. While Die Küste ist weit weg (“The coast is far away”) isn’t wrong, liegt sounds more natural when talking about where a place is situated.
What part of speech is weit weg, and does it count as one word or two?
Weit weg is an adverbial phrase comprised of two words: the adjective weit (far) and the adverb weg (away). Together they function as a single adverb meaning “far away.”
Can I use fern or weit entfernt instead of weit weg?