Die Leserin schreibt eine kurze Rezension im Internet.

The female reader writes a short review on the internet.

Breakdown of Die Leserin schreibt eine kurze Rezension im Internet.

• schreiben: to write
• im: in the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• das Internet: the internet
• kurz: short
• die Rezension: the review
• eine: a; (feminine, accusative)
• die Leserin: the reader (female)

Questions & Answers about Die Leserin schreibt eine kurze Rezension im Internet.

What does Leserin mean, and why does it end in -in?

Leserin means female reader.

In German, many professions and roles have:

• a masculine form: der Leser (male reader / generic “the reader”)
• a feminine form: die Leserin (female reader)

The ending -in is the usual marker for the feminine form:

• der Lehrer → die Lehrerin (teacher)
• der Student → die Studentin (student)
• der Leser → die Leserin (reader)

So Leserin specifically refers to a woman/female person who is reading or a reader in general, but explicitly marked as female.

If I don’t know the gender of the reader, should I say Leser or Leserin?

Traditionally, German uses the masculine form as a “generic” form:

• der Leser / die Leser can mean:
  • a male reader / male readers
  • or readers in general (without specifying gender)

However, in modern, more gender‑inclusive language, people often try to avoid using only the masculine. You might see forms like:

• die Leserinnen und Leser (female and male readers)
• Leser*innen, Leser:innen, or Leser(innen) (various inclusive spellings)

In your sentence, die Leserin clearly points to one female reader.
If the gender is not important and you’re just writing a neutral sentence, der Leser schreibt … (the reader writes …) is still very common, but be aware of the gender discussion around it.

Why is it die Leserin and not eine Leserin?

The difference is the same as in English between the and a:

• die Leserin = the (female) reader (specific, known or previously mentioned)
• eine Leserin = a (female) reader (non‑specific, just some reader)

So you choose:

• Die Leserin schreibt eine kurze Rezension im Internet.
  → The (female) reader writes a short review on the internet.
  (We have a specific person in mind.)

• Eine Leserin schreibt eine kurze Rezension im Internet.
  → A (female) reader writes a short review on the internet.
  (We’re not talking about any particular known person.)

Grammatically, both are correct; it’s just a question of meaning and context.

Why are Leserin, Rezension, and Internet capitalized?

In German, all nouns are capitalized, no matter where they appear in the sentence.

In your sentence:

• Leserin = noun (reader)
• Rezension = noun (review)
• Internet = noun (internet)

Therefore they all start with a capital letter:

• Die Leserin schreibt eine kurze Rezension im Internet.

Verbs (schreibt), adjectives (kurze), and articles (die, eine) are not capitalized (unless they start the sentence).

What cases are used in this sentence, and what roles do they play?

The sentence is:

Die Leserin schreibt eine kurze Rezension im Internet.

Breaking it down:

• Die Leserin

  • Case: Nominative
  • Function: subject (who is doing the action?)

• schreibt

  • Verb, 3rd person singular, present tense (she writes / is writing)

• eine kurze Rezension

  • Case: Accusative
  • Function: direct object (what is being written?)
  • Rezension is feminine → eine and kurze take feminine accusative singular endings.

• im Internet

  • im = contraction of in dem
  • Case: Dative (after in when it indicates location: “where?”)
  • Function: adverbial phrase of place (where is she writing it?)

So structurally:
[Nominative subject] – [verb] – [Accusative object] – [Dative prepositional phrase]

Why is it eine kurze Rezension and not ein kurzen Rezension or something else?

Because Rezension is:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative (it’s the direct object)

So the forms must agree with a feminine accusative singular noun:

• Indefinite article: eine (not ein)
• Adjective ending: kurze

Pattern for feminine singular with an indefinite article:

• Nominative: eine kurze Rezension
• Accusative: eine kurze Rezension (same form)
• Dative: einer kurzen Rezension
• Genitive: einer kurzen Rezension

So eine kurze Rezension is exactly what we need in the accusative feminine singular.

How can I tell that Rezension is feminine?

Some hints:

1. The dictionary article
   In a dictionary, you’ll see:
   die Rezension → feminine

2. Word ending
   Many nouns ending in -ion are feminine:

   • die Situation
   • die Nation
   • die Diskussion
   • die Rezension

So when you see a German noun ending in -ion, it’s very often die (feminine).

What exactly is im in im Internet? Why not in dem Internet?

im is a contraction of:

• in
  • dem = im

Dem is the dative singular of der for masculine and neuter nouns.

Internet is grammatically neuter: das Internet.

When you say in dem Internet (in the internet) in normal speech, it almost always becomes im Internet.

Both are grammatically correct:

• in dem Internet (more formal, sounds a bit heavy here)
• im Internet (normal, everyday form)

So im Internet = in dem Internet = on the internet / online (in this context).

Why is im Internet dative? When would it be accusative with in?

The preposition in can take dative or accusative, depending on the meaning:

• Dative = location (Where? → no movement)
• Accusative = direction (Where to? → movement into something)

In your sentence:

• im Internet (in dem Internet) answers Where?
  → She is writing in/on the internet (location)
  → So: Dative

Compare:

• Sie schreibt im Internet.
  She writes on the internet. (Dative – location)

• Sie geht ins Internet. (ins = in + das)
  She goes onto the internet / goes online. (Accusative – movement towards)

So:

• im = in dem → dative
• ins = in das → accusative

Why is the word order Die Leserin schreibt eine kurze Rezension im Internet? Can I move im Internet?

German main clauses usually follow:

• Position 1: One element (often the subject, but not always)
• Position 2: Conjugated verb
• Then: the rest (objects, adverbials, etc.)

Your sentence:

• Position 1: Die Leserin (subject)
• Position 2: schreibt (verb)
• Rest: eine kurze Rezension im Internet

You can move the adverbial im Internet to the front for emphasis or style:

• Im Internet schreibt die Leserin eine kurze Rezension.

This is still correct:

• Position 1: Im Internet
• Position 2: schreibt
• Then: die Leserin eine kurze Rezension

The key rule: in a main clause, the finite verb must stay in 2nd position, but you can move other parts (subject, objects, adverbials) around for emphasis.

Why is the verb form schreibt and not schreibe or schreiben?

Schreibt is the 3rd person singular, present tense form of schreiben (to write).

Present tense conjugation of schreiben:

• ich schreibe – I write
• du schreibst – you write (singular informal)
• er/sie/es schreibt – he/she/it writes
• wir schreiben – we write
• ihr schreibt – you write (plural informal)
• sie/Sie schreiben – they / you (formal) write

Subject: die Leserin → sie (she) → 3rd person singular
So the correct form is schreibt:

• Die Leserin schreibt … = She writes …

How would the sentence look in the plural?

There are a few options, depending on what you want to pluralize.

1. Plural readers, plural reviews (most natural):

• Die Leserinnen schreiben kurze Rezensionen im Internet.

Changes:

• Leserin → Leserinnen (plural)
• Rezension → Rezensionen (plural)
• Drop eine before kurze Rezensionen (no indefinite article in plural)
• Adjective kurze stays the same before a plural noun with no article in accusative:
  • kurze Rezensionen (Accusative plural feminine)

2. Plural readers, one review each (more ambiguous):

• Die Leserinnen schreiben eine kurze Rezension im Internet.
  (Each reader writes a short review; context clarifies.)

3. Mixed or unspecified genders, plural:

• Die Leser schreiben kurze Rezensionen im Internet. (generic masculine)
• Die Leserinnen und Leser schreiben kurze Rezensionen im Internet. (explicitly inclusive)

What’s the nuance of Rezension compared to words like Bewertung or Kommentar?

All three can relate to reacting to something, but they’re not identical:

• Rezension

  • More formal, often used for books, films, products, performances
  • Suggests a structured review/critique, usually with some argument or assessment
  • E.g. a book review in a newspaper = eine Buchrezension

• Bewertung

  • Literally: rating / evaluation
  • Often used for star ratings or short summaries:
    • eine Fünf-Sterne-Bewertung (a 5‑star rating)
  • Can be just a score or a very short comment

• Kommentar

  • comment in general
  • Can be neutral, short, informal:
    • einen Kommentar schreiben (to write a comment)

In your sentence, Rezension implies she is writing a proper review, not just clicking stars or leaving a one-line comment.