Breakdown of Der Fluss rauscht leise im Wald.
in
in
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
der Fluss
the river
leise
quietly
Questions & Answers about Der Fluss rauscht leise im Wald.
Why is Fluss capitalized?
In German, all nouns are capitalized, no matter where they appear in the sentence.
Fluss is a noun (it names a thing), so it must be written as Fluss, not fluss.
This rule is one of the most reliable ways to spot nouns in German.
Why is the article Der used with Fluss, not Die or Das?
Every German noun has a grammatical gender.
Fluss is masculine, so its definite article in the nominative singular is der.
- Masculine: der Fluss
- Feminine: die Stadt
- Neuter: das Haus
In this sentence, Der Fluss is the subject, so it uses the nominative masculine form der.
What tense is rauscht, and can it also mean “is rushing”?
Rauscht is the 3rd person singular present tense of rauschen.
German present tense covers both:
- English simple present: The river rushes.
- English present continuous: The river is rushing.
So Der Fluss rauscht can naturally be understood as “The river is rushing/rustling.”
Is rauschen a regular verb, and how do you conjugate it?