Die Beratung im Krankenhaus war hilfreich.

to be

Breakdown of Die Beratung im Krankenhaus war hilfreich.

• in: in
• dem: the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• das Krankenhaus: the hospital

Questions & Answers about Die Beratung im Krankenhaus war hilfreich.

Why is it die Beratung and not der Beratung in this sentence?

Because die Beratung is the subject of the sentence, so it must be in the nominative case.

• die Beratung = nominative singular feminine (subject)
• der Beratung would usually be dative or genitive, not nominative.

The basic structure is:

• Die Beratung (subject)
• im Krankenhaus (prepositional phrase)
• war hilfreich (verb + predicate adjective)

So we need nominative: die Beratung.

How do I know that Beratung is feminine and takes die?

In German, the grammatical gender of many nouns is arbitrary and must simply be learned with the noun.

• Beratung = feminine → die Beratung (sg.), die Beratungen (pl.)

There are some helpful patterns:

• Many nouns ending in -ung are feminine:
  
  • die Zeitung (newspaper)
  • die Wohnung (apartment)
  • die Bedeutung (meaning)
  • die Beratung (consultation / counseling)

So when you learn this noun, you should memorize it as die Beratung.

What exactly does Beratung mean here? Is it “advice” or “consultation”?