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Der Ritter steht mutig auf der Burg.

Der Ritter steht mutig auf der Burg.
The knight stands bravely at the castle.
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Questions & Answers about Der Ritter steht mutig auf der Burg.

Why is it Der Ritter and not Den Ritter or Dem Ritter?

Der Ritter is the subject of the sentence (the one doing the standing), so it must be in the nominative case.

  • der = nominative, masculine, singular (the knight)
  • den = accusative, masculine, singular (used for direct objects)
  • dem = dative, masculine, singular (used for indirect objects)

Since the knight is doing the action, nominative is required, so Der Ritter is correct.

Why is Ritter capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, no matter where they appear in the sentence.

  • Ritter = noun → capitalized
  • Burg = noun → capitalized
  • mutig, steht, auf, der = not nouns → lowercase (unless at the beginning of a sentence or in a title)

So Ritter and Burg are capitalized simply because they are nouns.

What tense is steht, and how does it compare to English?

steht is the 3rd person singular, present tense of stehen (to stand).

German present tense covers both:

  • English simple present: The knight stands…
  • English present continuous: The knight is standing…

So Der Ritter steht… can naturally be translated as either The knight stands… or The knight is standing… depending on context.

Why is it steht and not ist? In English we sometimes just say “He is at the castle.”

German prefers a verb of posture or position for this kind of description:

  • stehen = to stand
  • sitzen = to sit
  • liegen = to lie

So:

  • Der Ritter steht auf der Burg. = The knight is (standing) on/at the castle.
  • Der Ritter ist auf der Burg. is also possible, but it’s more neutral: just “The knight is at the castle,” without saying how he is there (standing, sitting, etc.).

Using steht gives more concrete imagery: he is physically standing.

Why is mutig not mutige or mutiger here?

In Der Ritter steht mutig auf der Burg, mutig is an adverb-like adjective describing how he stands (he stands bravely).

German makes a key distinction:

  1. Attributive adjective (before a noun) → gets endings

    • Der mutige Ritter = the brave knight
    • Ein mutiger Ritter = a brave knight

  2. Predicate or adverbial adjective (after the verb, describing the action or subject) → no ending

    • Der Ritter ist mutig. = The knight is brave.
    • Der Ritter steht mutig. = The knight stands bravely.

Here, mutig modifies the verb steht (how he stands), so it appears in its basic form, without endings.

Where can mutig go in the sentence? Is Der Ritter mutig steht auf der Burg possible?

The natural, standard order is:

  • Der Ritter steht mutig auf der Burg.

Some alternative word orders are possible for emphasis, but not all are correct:

  • Mutig steht der Ritter auf der Burg.
    → grammatically correct, emphasizes mutig (“Bravely, the knight stands on the castle.”)

What you cannot say is:

  • ✗ Der Ritter mutig steht auf der Burg.
    This breaks typical German word order: in a main clause, the conjugated verb (steht) must be in the second position.

So:

  • Position 1: Der Ritter
  • Position 2: steht
  • Then comes mutig auf der Burg.
Why is it auf der Burg and not auf dem Burg?

Two things are going on: gender and case.

  1. Gender of Burg

    • die Burg = the castle (feminine noun)

  2. Case after auf
    auf is a two-way preposition (Wechselpräposition).

    • With location (where?) → dative
    • With direction (where to?) → accusative

In this sentence, it’s location: Where is the knight standing? → on the castle.
So we need dative feminine for die Burg:

  • Nominative: die Burg
  • Accusative: die Burg
  • Dative: der Burg

So: auf der Burg = on the castle (location → dative feminine).

When do I use accusative instead of dative with auf?

auf works like many two-way prepositions in German:

  • Dative = location, no movement → Wo? (where?)
  • Accusative = direction, movement toward a place → Wohin? (to where?)

Examples with Burg:

  • Dative (Wo?)

    • Der Ritter steht auf der Burg.
      = The knight is standing on/at the castle. (Where is he?)

  • Accusative (Wohin?)

    • Der Ritter geht auf die Burg.
      = The knight goes (up) to the castle. (Where is he going?)

In your sentence, the knight is already there and just standing, so you ask Wo? → auf der Burg (dative).

Why is it auf der Burg and not in der Burg?

Both are possible, but they give slightly different images:

  • auf der Burg
    Literally “on the castle” → typically understood as on/at the castle complex, maybe on the hill or outer parts, not necessarily inside a room.
    It can simply mean “at the castle” as a location.

  • in der Burg
    “In the castle” → inside the building or within the walls.

So:

  • Der Ritter steht auf der Burg.
    = He stands at the castle (somewhere on its grounds, maybe on the walls).
  • Der Ritter steht in der Burg.
    = He stands inside the castle.

Context would decide which is more natural.

Could I also say Der mutige Ritter steht auf der Burg? How is that different?

Yes, that is correct, but the meaning changes slightly:

  • Der Ritter steht mutig auf der Burg.
    → Focus on how he stands: he stands bravely. (mutig modifies the verb)

  • Der mutige Ritter steht auf der Burg.
    → Focus on describing what kind of knight he is: a brave knight. (mutige modifies the noun)

Both are fine; you just emphasize different things:

  • One describes the action (standing bravely),
  • the other describes the person (the brave knight).
Why is it auf der Burg and not just auf Burg without the article?

Most countable nouns in German normally need an article (or some other determiner) in the singular.

  • auf der Burg = on/at the castle
  • auf einer Burg = on/at a castle
  • auf meiner Burg = on/at my castle

Saying ✗ auf Burg would sound incomplete or very unusual, except in certain fixed expressions with place names (e.g. auf Schloss Neuschwanstein where Schloss Neuschwanstein is a proper name).

Since Burg here is just “a castle”, not a proper name, you use an article: der (dative feminine).