Learn Hardcore German: Sport ist gut für die Gesundheit.

Why is there no article before Sport? In English we say “Sport is good…” or “Exercise is good…”, but sometimes also “The sport is…”. How does this work in German?

In German, abstract or general concepts are often used without an article, especially when you talk about them in a general sense:

Sport ist gut für die Gesundheit.
= Sport/exercise in general is good for your health.

Here, Sport is like “exercise” or “sports” as an activity, not a specific sport at a specific time. In that general meaning, German commonly drops the article.

You can use an article, but the meaning changes slightly:

Der Sport ist gut für die Gesundheit.
This sounds more like “Sport as an institution / as a field / as a category in society is good for health.” It’s a bit more “the field of sports” rather than “doing sport/exercise”.

In everyday speech, for the general idea of doing sport/exercise, no article is the most natural:
Sport ist gut …

Why do we say für die Gesundheit and not just für Gesundheit?

Two main reasons:

“Gesundheit” is a countable concept in German
In German, Gesundheit (health) usually takes an article when you refer to someone’s health as a concrete thing:
- die Gesundheit = (the) health
- für die Gesundheit = for (the) health
Saying für Gesundheit is grammatically possible but sounds unusual or like a slogan in a very abstract way (e.g. on a protest sign). In normal sentences, German prefers für die Gesundheit.
The preposition “für” needs a noun phrase
The pattern is für + accusative noun (usually with article):
- für den Körper (for the body)
- für die Umwelt (for the environment)
- für die Gesundheit (for health)

So für die Gesundheit is the natural, standard way to say “for (your/our) health.”

What gender, number, and case is die Gesundheit here?

Gender: Feminine
Number: Singular
Case: Accusative

Explanation:

The dictionary form is die Gesundheit (feminine noun).
für is a preposition that always takes the accusative.
So we need die in the accusative singular feminine:
- Nominative: die Gesundheit
- Accusative: die Gesundheit

For feminine nouns, die is the same in nominative and accusative, so it doesn’t visibly change, but the case is accusative because of für.

Why is Gesundheit capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of where they appear in the sentence.

Gesundheit is a noun (“health”), so it must be written with a capital G:
- die Gesundheit

This rule applies even when the noun is derived from an adjective or verb:

gesund (healthy) → die Gesundheit (health)
lernen (to learn) → das Lernen (the act of learning)

So capitalization is not optional: Sport ist gut für die Gesundheit.

Why is it ist gut and not ist gute? When do adjectives get endings in German?

Here, gut is used as a predicate adjective after the verb sein (“to be”). In that position, German adjectives do not take endings:

Sport ist gut. (Sport is good.)
Das Essen ist lecker. (The food is tasty.)
Die Übung war schwer. (The exercise was hard.)

Adjectives get endings when they directly modify a noun (attributive position):

guter Sport (good sport)
die gute Gesundheit (the good health)
ein leckeres Essen (a tasty meal)

Compare:

Sport ist gut. → predicate adjective → no ending
Guter Sport ist wichtig. → before a noun → adjective ending

Could you also say “Sport ist gesund” instead of “Sport ist gut für die Gesundheit”? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say Sport ist gesund, and it’s very natural German. The meanings are close but not identical:

Sport ist gesund.
Literally: “Sport is healthy.”
→ Describes sport itself as something that has a healthy quality / is a healthy activity.
Sport ist gut für die Gesundheit.
Literally: “Sport is good for the health.”
→ Emphasizes the effect of sport on your health.

In practice, both are often used in the same context, but:

gesund focuses on healthiness as a quality of the activity.
gut für die Gesundheit explicitly mentions the benefit to your health.

What’s the difference between Sport, Sport machen, and Sport treiben?

Sport – the noun: sport, exercise, athletics
- Sport ist gut für die Gesundheit.
Sport machen – literally: “to do sport”
Very common and neutral in everyday language:
- Ich mache dreimal pro Woche Sport.
  I exercise three times a week.
Sport treiben – also “to do sport / to practice sport”
Feels a bit more formal or “bookish”, but is quite common in written language and some spoken contexts:
- Viele Menschen treiben zu wenig Sport.

All three relate to the same idea. In casual spoken German, Sport machen is probably the most frequent way to say “do exercise.”

Can I move the phrase für die Gesundheit to the beginning of the sentence? For example: “Für die Gesundheit ist Sport gut.” Is that correct, and does it change the meaning?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct:

Sport ist gut für die Gesundheit.
Für die Gesundheit ist Sport gut.

Both mean essentially the same thing.

The difference is in emphasis and style:

Sport ist gut für die Gesundheit.
→ Neutral, most typical word order. Focus more on Sport.
Für die Gesundheit ist Sport gut.
→ Puts “für die Gesundheit” in a more emphatic, contrastive, or topic position.
It sounds a bit more formal or rhetorical, like you are highlighting health first, then saying what is good for it.

But both are correct and understandable.

Why is the preposition für used here instead of something like zu or bei?

The preposition für in German often expresses:

benefit (“for someone/something”)
intended purpose (“for a goal/use”)

In für die Gesundheit, it clearly means “beneficial to / in favor of / good for”:

gut für die Augen – good for the eyes
schlecht für die Umwelt – bad for the environment
wichtig für die Zukunft – important for the future

Other prepositions wouldn’t fit this meaning:

zu usually means “to” (direction) or “too” (as an adverb: zu viel = too much).
bei often means “at / with / near / during”.

So for expressing “X is good for Y (benefits Y)”, gut für … is the standard pattern.

Is Sport singular or plural here, and how do you talk about different kinds of sport in German?

In this sentence, Sport is singular and refers to sport/exercise in general, not to multiple separate sports.

To talk about different kinds of sport, you have several options:

die Sportarten – types of sport (literally: kinds of sport)
- Es gibt viele verschiedene Sportarten.
  There are many different kinds of sport.
Specific sports use their own nouns:
- Fußball, Tennis, Schwimmen, Laufen, Yoga, Turnen, etc.

But when you talk about sport as an activity in general, you normally just say:

Sport machen / treiben
Sport ist gesund.
Sport ist gut für die Gesundheit.