Der Abstieg vom Berg ist heute schwierig, weil der Weg nass ist.

The descent from the mountain is difficult today because the path is wet.

Breakdown of Der Abstieg vom Berg ist heute schwierig, weil der Weg nass ist.

• sein: to be
• heute: today
• weil: because
• nass: wet

Questions & Answers about Der Abstieg vom Berg ist heute schwierig, weil der Weg nass ist.

Why is Abstieg capitalized?

All German nouns are always written with an initial capital letter, regardless of their position in the sentence. Since Abstieg is a noun, it must be capitalized.

What does Abstieg mean exactly, and what is its gender?

Abstieg means “descent” (the act of going down), here specifically down a mountain. It is a masculine noun, so its nominative article is der Abstieg.

Why is vom used here instead of von dem?

vom is simply the contracted form of von dem. In everyday German, von dem often contracts to vom for smoother pronunciation and writing.

What case is vom Berg, and why?

The preposition von always requires the dative case. Therefore, von dem Berg becomes vom Berg, with dem Berg in the dative.

What is the function of vom Berg in this sentence?

It’s a prepositional phrase indicating origin or starting point: the descent starts from the mountain. Grammatically, it acts as an adverbial modifier of place.