Geduld ist der Schlüssel zum Erfolg.

to be

Breakdown of Geduld ist der Schlüssel zum Erfolg.

• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• zu: to
• der Erfolg: the success

Questions & Answers about Geduld ist der Schlüssel zum Erfolg.

Why is there no article before Geduld?

Geduld (“patience”) is an abstract, uncountable noun. In German, when you talk about something in a general or abstract sense, you often omit the definite article. If you meant a specific kind of patience, you could say die Geduld, but here it’s a general statement: Geduld ist ….

Why do we say der Schlüssel and not den Schlüssel or ein Schlüssel?

Schlüssel is a masculine noun. In this sentence it’s a predicate nominative (a subject complement with the verb ist), so it must be in the nominative case. The definite article for masculine nominative singular is der. If you said ein Schlüssel, you’d mean “a key”—one of several possible keys—whereas der Schlüssel means “the key,” implying it’s the main or most important factor.

What does zum Erfolg mean, and why is it “zum” instead of “zu Erfolg”?

zum is a contraction of zu dem. Erfolg (“success”) is a masculine noun, and when you use the preposition zu, it requires the dative case. The dative singular masculine article dem + zu contracts to zum, giving zum Erfolg (“to success” or idiomatically “to achieve success”).

Why does the preposition zu demand the dative case?