Unsere Strategie ist einfach und klar.

to be

Breakdown of Unsere Strategie ist einfach und klar.

• und: and
• unser: our
• klar: clear
• einfach: simple
• die Strategie: the strategy

Questions & Answers about Unsere Strategie ist einfach und klar.

What does Unsere mean, and why does it end in -e here?

Unsere means “our”.

The base form is unser (“our”), but in German possessive words change their ending to match the gender, number, and case of the noun they describe.

• Noun: Strategie
• Gender: feminine
• Number: singular
• Case: nominative (subject of the sentence)

For a feminine nominative singular noun, unser takes the ending -e → unsere Strategie (“our strategy”).

So:

• unser Plan (masculine)
• unsere Strategie (feminine)
• unser Problem (neuter)
• unsere Pläne / Strategien (plural)

What gender is Strategie, and how do I know?

Strategie is feminine in German.

• The definite article is die Strategie.
• The plural is die Strategien.

There is no 100% reliable rule, but many nouns ending in -ie (e.g. die Industrie, die Chemie, die Energie) are feminine. You usually learn the gender together with the noun:

• die Strategie (feminine)
• not der Strategie or das Strategie.

Why don’t einfach and klar have endings like einfachE or klarE?

Because here they are predicate adjectives (they come after the verb sein — “to be”), not directly before a noun.

• Unsere Strategie ist einfach und klar.
  → predicate position after ist → no adjective endings

But if they come before the noun, they are attributive adjectives and must take endings:

• Unsere einfache und klare Strategie
  (“our simple and clear strategy”)

So:

• After sein / werden / bleiben → usually no ending:
  Die Strategie ist einfach.
• Before a noun → with ending:
  eine einfache Strategie

Can I say Unsere einfache und klare Strategie instead, and does it mean the same?

Yes, you can, but the structure and nuance are slightly different:

• Unsere Strategie ist einfach und klar.
  → You state a property of the strategy.
  Literally: “Our strategy is simple and clear.”

• Unsere einfache und klare Strategie
  → You describe the strategy as you introduce it as a noun phrase.
  Literally: “Our simple and clear strategy …”

The meaning is very close, but:

• With ist, you make a statement or evaluation.
• With adjectives before the noun, you’re more characterizing it as part of a longer noun phrase, e.g.:
  Unsere einfache und klare Strategie hat sehr gut funktioniert.
  (“Our simple and clear strategy worked very well.”)

Could I also say Unsere Strategie ist klar und einfach? Does the order of einfach and klar matter?

Grammatically, both are correct:

• Unsere Strategie ist einfach und klar.
• Unsere Strategie ist klar und einfach.

Often there is no real difference, but order can slightly affect emphasis or flow. Native speakers might choose the order that “sounds better” to them in context.

If you want to subtly highlight clarity more, you might put klar first:

• Unsere Strategie ist klar und einfach.

But in everyday speech and writing, both orders are normally understood as equivalent.

Why is there no comma before und in einfach und klar?

In German you generally do not put a comma between two adjectives linked by und when they describe the same noun or subject together:

• Unsere Strategie ist einfach und klar. (no comma)
• Er ist jung und motiviert.

A comma would appear if you had a different type of structure, e.g. a full clause:

• Unsere Strategie ist einfach, und sie ist klar.
  (two clauses joined by und → comma is possible here)

But in your sentence, einfach and klar are just two coordinated adjectives, so no comma.

Why is Strategie capitalized, but einfach and klar are not?

In German:

• All nouns are capitalized.
  → Strategie is a noun, so it’s written with a capital S.

• Adjectives are not capitalized (except at the beginning of a sentence or in some fixed special cases).
  → einfach and klar are adjectives, so they stay lowercase.

So:

• Unsere Strategie ist einfach und klar.
• If the sentence started with the adjective, it would be capitalized just because it’s first:
  Einfach und klar ist unsere Strategie.

Why is it ist and not sind? Could I ever use sind here?

You use ist because the subject is singular:

• Subject: Unsere Strategie → 3rd person singular
• Verb: sein (to be), 3rd person singular → ist

So:

• Unsere Strategie ist … (singular)
• Unsere Strategien sind … (plural)

You would use sind if the subject were plural:

• Unsere Strategien sind einfach und klar.
  (“Our strategies are simple and clear.”)

Can I change the word order to say Einfach und klar ist unsere Strategie?

Yes, that is grammatically correct:

• Einfach und klar ist unsere Strategie.

This word order is less neutral and sounds more emphatic or stylized, for example in a slogan, headline, or speech. It puts “einfach und klar” in the focus position at the beginning.

Neutral, everyday version:

• Unsere Strategie ist einfach und klar.

Emphatic / stylistic version:

• Einfach und klar ist unsere Strategie.

How do I pronounce Unsere Strategie ist einfach und klar naturally?

Approximate pronunciation (in English-like spelling):

• Unsere → OON-ze-re (or more reduced: UN-se-re)
• Strategie → shtrah-te-GEE (stress on the last syllable, -gie like English “gee”)
• ist → like English “ist” in “list” without the l
• einfach → EIN-fakh (EIN like English “ine” in “fine”; ch as in Scottish “loch”)
• und → like English “oont” (short u, final d is often soft)
• klar → like English “klar” with a clear k and long a (like in “car” for many accents)

Sentence-level:

• UN-se-re shtrah-te-GEE ist EIN-fakh oont klar.

Stress pattern:

• Stronger stress on Stra-te-GIE, EIN-, and klar.