Im Winter ist das Land still und schön.

In winter the countryside is quiet and beautiful.

Breakdown of Im Winter ist das Land still und schön.

• sein: to be
• und: and
• schön: beautiful
• im: in the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• der Winter: the winter
• still: quiet
• das Land: the countryside

Questions & Answers about Im Winter ist das Land still und schön.

Why is it Im Winter and not In dem Winter?

Im is simply the usual contraction of in dem.

• in + dem Winter → im Winter
• This contraction is very common and normally preferred in everyday German.
• In dem Winter is grammatically correct but sounds more formal or contrastive, e.g. In dem Winter, nicht in dem davor, … (“In that winter, not the one before…”).

What grammatical case is Winter in, and why?

Winter is in the dative case here.

• The preposition in can take dative (location/time) or accusative (direction/motion).
• With time expressions like seasons, in uses the dative:
  
  • in dem Winter → im Winter
  • in dem Sommer → im Sommer
• Nominative: der Winter
• Dative: dem Winter → contracted to im Winter in the sentence.

Why is Winter capitalized?

All nouns in German are capitalized, and the names of the seasons (Winter, Sommer, Herbst, Frühling) are nouns.

So Winter is capitalized for the same reason as Land: both are nouns.

What is the subject of the sentence, and why do we use das with Land?

The subject is das Land.

• Land is a neuter noun, so its nominative singular article is das.
• The verb ist is the 3rd-person singular of sein, agreeing with das Land.
• Im Winter is just a time expression (a dative prepositional phrase), not the subject.

What does Land mean here exactly—“country” or “countryside”?

Land can mean both, depending on context:

1. Country / state:
   
   • Deutschland ist ein schönes Land. – “Germany is a beautiful country.”
2. Countryside / rural area / landscape:
   
   • Ich lebe auf dem Land. – “I live in the country / in a rural area.”

In Im Winter ist das Land still und schön, it most naturally refers to the landscape / countryside being quiet and beautiful in winter.

Why don’t still and schön have endings like -e or -en?

Because they are predicative adjectives (used after a verb like sein) and not directly in front of a noun.

• After sein, werden, bleiben, adjectives usually have no ending:
  
  • Das Land ist still.
  • Das Land ist schön.
• When they stand before a noun, they take endings depending on article/case:
  
  • das stille Land
  • das schöne Land
  • im stillen Land
  • im schönen Land

So:

• ist still und schön → no endings
• das stille, schöne Land → endings -e.

What does still mean in German, and how is it different from English still?

German still usually means “quiet, silent, calm”.

• Es ist ganz still. – “It is completely quiet/silent.”
• Sei bitte still. – “Please be quiet.”

English still (as in “I’m still here”) is not still in German; it’s usually noch:

• I’m still here. → Ich bin noch hier.

So in the sentence, still describes the land as quiet/silent, not “still” in the temporal sense of English.

Could I say ruhig instead of still? What is the difference?

You could say Im Winter ist das Land ruhig und schön, and it would be correct, but the nuance changes slightly:

• still: emphasizes silence and absence of noise, very calm and hushed.
• ruhig: emphasizes calmness, lack of movement or disturbance; can also apply to people being relaxed.

For a winter landscape, still strongly suggests a deep, almost magical silence; ruhig sounds a bit more like “peaceful, not hectic.” Both are possible, but still is often more poetic for such a scene.

Why is the word order Im Winter ist das Land …? Can I also say Das Land ist im Winter …?

Both word orders are correct:

• Im Winter ist das Land still und schön.
• Das Land ist im Winter still und schön.

German main clauses follow the verb-second rule: the finite verb (ist) must be in second position.

You can put different elements in the first position for emphasis:

• First position: Im Winter → emphasis on when
• First position: Das Land → emphasis on the land

So the version in your sentence puts more focus on the time (in winter).

Do I need a comma after Im Winter?

No.

Im Winter ist das Land still und schön. → no comma

A short fronted adverbial phrase like Im Winter does not take a comma.

You would use a comma if there is a full clause following it, for example:

• Im Winter, wenn es schneit, ist das Land still und schön.
  
  • Here wenn es schneit is a subordinate clause and is separated by commas.

How do you pronounce Im Winter ist das Land still und schön?

In standard German (approximate IPA and English hints):

• Im – [ɪm], like “im” in “improv”
• Winter – [ˈvɪntɐ]
  
  • W sounds like v
  • final -er often like a weak -uh [ɐ]
• ist – [ɪst], like English “ist” in “fist” without the f
• das – [das], short a as in “father” but shorter
• Land – [lant], clear a, final d sounds like t in many accents
• still – [ʃtɪl]
  
  • st at the beginning of a syllable is pronounced sht [ʃt]
• und – [ʊnt], short u as in “put”
• schön – [ʃøːn]
  
  • sch = English “sh”
  • ö is like British English “ur” in “nurse”, but with rounded lips
  • ö is long here (schööön)

Whole sentence:
[ɪm ˈvɪntɐ ɪst das lant ʃtɪl ʊnt ʃøːn]

How would the sentence change in other tenses or with a different season?

You mainly change the verb and/or the season word; im stays the same:

• Different season (same tense):
  
  • Im Sommer ist das Land still und schön. – “In summer the land is quiet and beautiful.”
• Past tense:
  
  • Im Winter war das Land still und schön. – “In winter the land was quiet and beautiful.”
• Future tense:
  
  • Im Winter wird das Land still und schön sein. – “In winter the land will be quiet and beautiful.”

The structure with im + [season] + ist/war/wird … stays consistent.