Word
In dem neuen Bürogebäude gibt es eine ruhige Bibliothek.
Meaning
In the new office building there is a quiet library.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of In dem neuen Bürogebäude gibt es eine ruhige Bibliothek.
in
in
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
neu
new
ruhig
quiet
es
it
geben
to give
die Bibliothek
the library
das Bürogebäude
the office building
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Questions & Answers about In dem neuen Bürogebäude gibt es eine ruhige Bibliothek.
Why is in dem used instead of just im?
im is simply the contraction of in dem. Both mean “in the.” Using im is more common in everyday speech and writing, but the full form in dem is equally correct.
Why is dem in the dative case?
The preposition in takes the dative case when indicating a static location (answering “where?”). Therefore you use in + dem (masculine/neuter dative).
Why does neue become neuen in dem neuen Bürogebäude?
After a definite article (dem), adjectives follow the weak declension and take the ending -en in the dative case. That’s why neu turns into neuen here.
What gender is Bürogebäude, and how can I tell?
Bürogebäude is neuter (das Bürogebäude). In German, compound nouns inherit the gender of their last element; Gebäude is neuter, so the whole compound is neuter.
Why does the sentence use es gibt, and what is the word order?
es gibt means “there is/are.” In a German main clause the finite verb must occupy the second position. Since In dem neuen Bürogebäude is fronted (position one), the verb gibt comes next, followed by the dummy subject es, and then the object eine ruhige Bibliothek.
Why is Bibliothek preceded by eine?
Bibliothek is feminine (die Bibliothek). The indefinite article for feminine nouns in the nominative case is eine, hence eine Bibliothek.
Why does ruhig end with -e in eine ruhige Bibliothek?
After eine (feminine nominative indefinite article), adjectives take the weak ending -e, turning ruhig into ruhige.
Can I also say Es gibt eine ruhige Bibliothek in dem neuen Bürogebäude?
Yes. That’s the neutral word order (subject before the prepositional phrase) and is perfectly natural. Placing in dem neuen Bürogebäude at the end makes the statement less about location emphasis.