Learn Hardcore German: Die Sprache dieses Romans ist einfach, aber die Geschichte ist wirklich beeindruckend. - The language of this novel is simple, but the story is truly impressive.

In the sentence Die Sprache dieses Romans …, dieses Romans does not act as the subject. It shows possession: the language of this novel.

German normally expresses this possession with the genitive case:

die Sprache des Romans = the language of the novel
die Sprache dieses Romans = the language of this novel

So:

dieses is the genitive singular masculine form of dieser
Romans is the genitive singular of Roman (adding -s)

Together, dieses Romans literally means of this novel.

Why does dieses end in -es and Roman get an -s in dieses Romans?

Two different things are happening:

Dieses
- dieses is the genitive masculine singular form of the demonstrative dieser.
- Masculine and neuter singular genitive for words like dieser often take -es:
  - dieses Mannes (of this man)
  - dieses Kindes (of this child)
Romans
- Many masculine and neuter nouns add -s or -es in the genitive singular.
- der Roman → des Romans
- With dieses in front, we simply still have Romans.

So dieses Romans = of this novel, both parts marked as genitive: dies- + -es, Roman + -s.

What case is used in die Sprache dieses Romans, and when do I use it?

The phrase uses the genitive case:

die Sprache – nominative (subject)
dieses Romans – genitive (shows of whom / of what)

You use the genitive mainly to show possession or belonging, often translating to English with of or with ’s:

die Farbe des Autos = the car’s color / the color of the car
der Titel des Buches = the book’s title / the title of the book
die Sprache dieses Romans = this novel’s language / the language of this novel

In spoken German, many people prefer von + dative (e.g. die Sprache von diesem Roman), but the genitive die Sprache dieses Romans sounds more written, formal, and concise.

Why is it die Sprache and die Geschichte? How do I know the gender?

German nouns have grammatical gender:

Sprache is feminine → die Sprache
Geschichte is feminine → die Geschichte
Roman is masculine → der Roman

There are some patterns:

Many nouns ending in -e are feminine (like Sprache, Geschichte, Straße, Blume), but there are exceptions.
Many job titles or people words in -in are feminine (Lehrerin, Studentin).

However, you often just have to learn the gender with the noun:

die Sprache (feminine)
die Geschichte (feminine)
der Roman (masculine)

Always learn nouns together with their article: die Sprache, die Geschichte, der Roman.

Why is einfach at the end of Die Sprache dieses Romans ist einfach and why doesn’t it have an extra ending like einfache?

In German, adjectives behave differently depending on where they appear:

Before a noun (attributive adjective):
Then they usually take an ending:
- eine einfache Sprache – a simple language
- eine interessante Geschichte – an interesting story
After a form of “to be” (sein, werden, bleiben) as a predicate adjective:
Then they have no ending:
- Die Sprache ist einfach. – The language is simple.
- Die Geschichte ist interessant. – The story is interesting.

In your sentence, einfach comes after ist and describes die Sprache, so it is a predicate adjective and stays in its basic form without an ending:

Die Sprache … ist einfach.
(not einfa che here)

Why is there a comma before aber, and does aber change the word order?

Aber is a coordinating conjunction (like und, oder, denn). It joins two main clauses of equal status:

Die Sprache dieses Romans ist einfach,
aber die Geschichte ist wirklich beeindruckend.

In German, when you connect two full clauses with a coordinating conjunction, you:

Use a comma before the conjunction.
Keep normal main-clause word order (verb in second position) after the conjunction.

That’s why you have:

aber die Geschichte ist wirklich beeindruckend
(verb ist is still in second position)

If aber were a subordinating conjunction (like weil, dass, wenn), the verb would go to the end of the clause, but aber does not do this. It behaves like and / but / or in English with respect to word order.

What is beeindruckend here – an adjective, a verb form, or something else?

Beeindruckend is the present participle of the verb beeindrucken (to impress), used as an adjective:

Verb: beeindrucken – to impress
Participle adjective: beeindruckend – impressive / impressing

In the sentence:

die Geschichte ist wirklich beeindruckend

beeindruckend is a predicate adjective (after ist), so it:

Describes the noun die Geschichte
Stays in its base form (no extra ending, similar to ist einfach)

You can also use beeindruckend before a noun, then it behaves like a normal adjective and takes endings:

eine beeindruckende Geschichte – an impressive story
eine wirklich beeindruckende Geschichte – a really impressive story

Why is wirklich before beeindruckend? Could I say die Geschichte ist beeindruckend wirklich?

Wirklich is an adverb meaning really / truly / genuinely. In German, adverbs that modify adjectives usually come before the adjective, just as in English:

wirklich beeindruckend – really impressive
sehr einfach – very simple

So the natural order is:

Die Geschichte ist wirklich beeindruckend.

Saying die Geschichte ist beeindruckend wirklich sounds wrong or, at best, very unnatural; it would be interpreted as if wirklich were commenting on the whole sentence at the end, not modifying beeindruckend.

So: put wirklich directly in front of the adjective it modifies:
wirklich beeindruckend, wirklich schön, wirklich interessant.

Can I also say Die Sprache von diesem Roman instead of Die Sprache dieses Romans?

Yes, you can, but there is a difference in style:

Die Sprache dieses Romans
- Uses the genitive.
- Sounds more formal, written, and compact.
- Very natural in book reviews, essays, literary commentary.
Die Sprache von diesem Roman
- Uses von + dative instead of the genitive.
- Is common in spoken and informal German.
- In careful written German, people usually prefer the genitive here.

So both are understandable, but Die Sprache dieses Romans is the more standard written version, especially in a sentence that reads like a review.

Could I say Die Sprache ist einfach in diesem Roman instead of Die Sprache dieses Romans ist einfach?

You could say Die Sprache ist in diesem Roman einfach, but the nuance changes slightly.

Die Sprache dieses Romans ist einfach.
- Very tight link between Sprache and dieses Romans (genitive).
- Focus: the language of this specific novel is simple.
- Sounds like a typical review statement.
Die Sprache ist in diesem Roman einfach.
- The phrase in diesem Roman is an adverbial (where? in which context?).
- More like: In this novel, the language is simple.
- Still correct, but a bit less compact and slightly less “book-review style”.

Both are grammatically correct. The original Die Sprache dieses Romans ist einfach is the most natural, idiomatic way to express the language of this novel is simple.