Die Nachbarn respektieren einander, und der Respekt macht die Beziehung friedlich.

The neighbors respect each other, and the respect makes the relationship peaceful.

Breakdown of Die Nachbarn respektieren einander, und der Respekt macht die Beziehung friedlich.

• und: and
• machen: to make
• der Nachbar: the neighbor
• einander: each other
• der Respekt: the respect
• respektieren: to respect
• die Beziehung: the relationship
• friedlich: peaceful

Questions & Answers about Die Nachbarn respektieren einander, und der Respekt macht die Beziehung friedlich.

Why is Nachbarn in the plural, and how do I know it’s nominative here?

Der Nachbar means the neighbor (singular). The plural is die Nachbarn.

In the sentence:

• Die Nachbarn = subject of the sentence
• respektieren = verb (3rd person plural)
• einander = object (each other)

In German, the subject of a normal main clause is in the nominative case.

So die Nachbarn must be nominative plural because:

• It appears before the verb in a standard SVO structure.
• The verb respektieren is in the plural form, agreeing with a plural subject.
• You can ask “Who respects?” → Die Nachbarn.

If it were something like “I see the neighbors”, then die Nachbarn would be accusative (still die Nachbarn in the plural), but the subject would be ich. Here, there is no other candidate for the subject, so die Nachbarn is nominative.

What exactly does einander mean, and why not use sich?

Einander is a reciprocal pronoun and means “each other / one another.”

• Die Nachbarn respektieren einander.
  → The neighbors respect each other.

Sich is a reflexive pronoun; it usually means the subject acts on itself:

• Die Nachbarn respektieren sich.
  This can also be understood as “The neighbors respect each other,” because sich can have a reciprocal meaning when it’s plural. However, it can be a bit more ambiguous.

Einander makes the reciprocity very explicit: A respects B, B respects A, etc. In many contexts, respektieren sich and respektieren einander are both acceptable; einander just emphasizes the “each other” idea more clearly.

What’s the difference between einander and miteinander?

• einander = each other / one another (as an object)

  • Sie lieben einander. → They love each other.

• miteinander = with each other / together (a prepositional adverb)

  • Sie sprechen miteinander. → They speak with each other / to each other.

You can sometimes say both, but they behave differently in the sentence:

• Die Nachbarn respektieren einander.
  → “The neighbors respect each other.” (einander is the direct object.)

• Die Nachbarn gehen freundlich miteinander um.
  → “The neighbors treat each other kindly.” (miteinander modifies the verb phrase, like “with each other.”)

In your sentence, einander is correct because it’s directly receiving the action of respektieren (they respect whom? → each other).

Why is Respekt capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized: Respekt, Beziehung, Nachbarn, etc.

Respekt is a noun (respect as a thing), not the verb respektieren (to respect). You can tell it’s a noun because:

• It has an article: der Respekt
• It can be pluralized (in some contexts) or used with adjectives that take endings: großer Respekt, viel Respekt.

So the capitalization follows the standard German rule: nouns get capital letters.

Why is it der Respekt and not die Respekt or das Respekt?

Every German noun has a fixed grammatical gender. For Respekt, the grammatical gender is masculine:

• der Respekt (nominative singular)
• des Respekts (genitive)
• dem Respekt (dative)
• den Respekt (accusative)

There is no logical reason you can deduce from English; it’s simply part of the word’s dictionary entry:

• Respekt (m.) → der Respekt

You just need to learn the gender along with the noun.

Why is it macht die Beziehung friedlich and not macht die Beziehung friedliche?

This is about predicative vs. attributive adjectives.

1. Predicative adjective (after sein, werden, bleiben, machen etc.): no ending

   • Der Respekt macht die Beziehung friedlich.
     → friedlich describes the state of the relationship; it comes after the verb macht. No ending.

2. Attributive adjective (directly before a noun): takes an ending

   • eine friedliche Beziehung
   • die friedliche Beziehung

So:

• Der Respekt macht die Beziehung friedlich. ✅
• Der Respekt macht die Beziehung friedliche. ❌ (ungrammatical)

Compare:

• Die Beziehung ist friedlich. (predicative, no ending)
• die friedliche Beziehung (attributive, with ending -e)

Why does friedlich end in -lich? Is it related to English -ly?

Yes, -lich is a very common adjective ending in German and is historically related to English -ly, but the usage is different:

• English -ly usually makes adverbs (quick → quickly).

• German -lich usually makes adjectives:

  • Frieden (peace) → friedlich (peaceful)
  • Kind (child) → kindlich (childlike)
  • freund (friend) → freundlich (friendly)

In your sentence, friedlich is an adjective describing the relationship (peaceful). German adverbs often look exactly like adjectives (e.g. schnell = fast / quickly), but friedlich here is clearly an adjective.

Why is it die Beziehung? What gender is Beziehung?

Beziehung means relationship and is feminine:

• die Beziehung (nominative singular)
• der Beziehung (genitive/dative singular)
• die Beziehung (accusative singular)

In the sentence, die Beziehung is the direct object of the verb macht (what does respect make peaceful? → the relationship). For feminine nouns, nominative and accusative singular both use die, so the form looks the same.

Can I also say Der Respekt macht die Beziehung zu einer friedlichen Beziehung?

Yes, that is grammatically correct, but it’s stylistically heavier and more repetitive:

• Der Respekt macht die Beziehung friedlich.
  → simple, natural

• Der Respekt macht die Beziehung zu einer friedlichen Beziehung.
  → literally “makes the relationship into a peaceful relationship”
  → more wordy and repeats Beziehung unnecessarily

The shorter version is usually preferred in normal speech and writing. You would only use the longer structure if you really wanted to stress the transformation (“turns the relationship into a peaceful one”).

Why is there a comma before und? Isn’t it optional?

In modern German, when und joins two main clauses (each with its own subject and verb), the comma is optional:

• Die Nachbarn respektieren einander und der Respekt macht die Beziehung friedlich.
• Die Nachbarn respektieren einander, und der Respekt macht die Beziehung friedlich.

Both are correct.

Style guidelines:

• Many writers omit the comma for a smoother flow.
• Some prefer to keep the comma to make the structure clearer, especially when the clauses are longer or more complex.

In your sentence, the comma emphasizes that we have two separate main clauses:

1. Die Nachbarn respektieren einander.
2. Der Respekt macht die Beziehung friedlich.

Why is the verb macht and not machen in the second clause?

Verb endings in German agree with the subject:

• Der Respekt = 3rd person singular (he/it)
  → verb form is macht
• Die Nachbarn = 3rd person plural (they)
  → verb form is respektieren

So:

• Die Nachbarn respektieren einander (they respect)
• der Respekt macht die Beziehung friedlich (it makes)

If you wrote Der Respekt machen, that would mismatch: singular subject + plural verb = ungrammatical.

Could the word order be Der Respekt macht die Beziehung friedlich, und die Nachbarn respektieren einander instead?

Yes, that is grammatically correct:

• Der Respekt macht die Beziehung friedlich, und die Nachbarn respektieren einander.

You just switch the order of the two main clauses. The meaning remains almost the same, but the focus changes:

• Original: Starts with the neighbors’ action, then shows the effect.
• Changed version: Starts with the effect of respect, then mentions what the neighbors actually do.

Both sentences are fine; the choice depends on what you want to emphasize first.