Dieses Fahrrad ist umweltfreundlich.

This bicycle is environmentally friendly.

Breakdown of Dieses Fahrrad ist umweltfreundlich.

• sein: to be
• das Fahrrad: the bicycle
• dieses: this
• umweltfreundlich: environmentally friendly

Questions & Answers about Dieses Fahrrad ist umweltfreundlich.

Why is it dieses Fahrrad and not dieser Fahrrad or diesem Fahrrad?

Fahrrad is a neuter noun in German: das Fahrrad.

Dieses is the demonstrative determiner dies- inflected for:

• Case: nominative (subject of the sentence)
• Gender: neuter
• Number: singular

The forms of dies- in the nominative are:

• dieser – masculine (e.g. dieser Mann)
• diese – feminine (e.g. diese Frau)
• dieses – neuter (e.g. dieses Fahrrad)
• diese – plural for all genders (e.g. diese Fahrräder)

Since Fahrrad is neuter and it’s the subject, you must use dieses Fahrrad (nominative neuter), not dieser or diesem.

What role does dieses play in the sentence?

Dieses is a demonstrative determiner (similar to English this / that when used before a noun). It does two main things:

1. Points to a specific object

   • Not just any bicycle in general, but this particular bicycle (the one we are talking about, showing, or contrasting with others).

2. Agrees with the noun

   • It matches Fahrrad in case (nominative), number (singular), and gender (neuter): dieses Fahrrad.

So dieses functions much like this in this bicycle is environmentally friendly.

Why is Fahrrad capitalized but umweltfreundlich is not?

In German:

• All nouns are capitalized.
  Fahrrad is a noun (a thing), so it must be written Fahrrad.

• Adjectives are normally not capitalized.
  umweltfreundlich is an adjective (describing something), so it stays lowercase.

This is a general rule:

• das schöne Fahrrad – schöne (adjective) is lowercase, Fahrrad (noun) is uppercase.
• dieses Fahrrad ist umweltfreundlich – same pattern.

Why is there no article before umweltfreundlich? Why not ist ein umweltfreundlich?

In this sentence, umweltfreundlich is a predicate adjective: it comes after sein (ist) and describes the subject.

• Pattern: [subject] + sein (ist, sind, etc.) + adjective
  
  • Das Auto ist teuer.
  • Das Wetter ist schön.
  • Dieses Fahrrad ist umweltfreundlich.

In this pattern, the adjective stands alone, with no article and no extra ending (other than what’s built into the word itself).

If you add an article, you are turning it into a noun phrase, which would be wrong here:

• ❌ Dieses Fahrrad ist ein umweltfreundlich. – incorrect
• ✅ Dieses Fahrrad ist umweltfreundlich. – correct

But if the adjective comes before the noun (attributive), then you do need endings and often an article:

• ✅ ein umweltfreundliches Fahrrad
• ✅ dieses umweltfreundliche Fahrrad

What exactly does umweltfreundlich mean, and how is it formed?

umweltfreundlich literally means environment-friendly, i.e. environmentally friendly or eco‑friendly.

It’s a compound:

• Umwelt – environment
• freundlich – friendly

So umweltfreundlich describes something that:

• does not harm the environment much
• is good or gentle for nature, the climate, etc.

Related words:

• umweltfeindlich – environmentally unfriendly / harmful
• klimafreundlich – climate‑friendly
• umweltbewusst – environmentally conscious (usually about people or behavior)

Could I also say Das Fahrrad ist umweltfreundlich instead of Dieses Fahrrad ist umweltfreundlich?

Yes, both are grammatically correct, but the nuance is different:

• Das Fahrrad ist umweltfreundlich.

  • Neutral: the bicycle is environmentally friendly.
  • Refers to a specific bicycle already known from context, but with no special pointing or contrasting.

• Dieses Fahrrad ist umweltfreundlich.

  • More like: this bicycle is environmentally friendly.
  • Emphasizes this particular one, often in contrast to others:
    • Dieses Fahrrad ist umweltfreundlich, aber jenes ist sehr altmodisch.
      This bicycle is eco‑friendly, but that one is very old‑fashioned.

So dieses adds a pointing / demonstrative feel that das doesn’t always have.

How would this sentence look in the plural?

Plural of Fahrrad is Fahrräder.

For the plural subject, you use diese and sind:

• Diese Fahrräder sind umweltfreundlich.
  → These bicycles are environmentally friendly.

Changes:

• dieses (singular neuter) → diese (plural for all genders, nominative)
• ist (3rd person singular of sein) → sind (3rd person plural of sein)
• Fahrrad → Fahrräder (with umlaut and -er ending)

Can I change the word order to Umweltfreundlich ist dieses Fahrrad?

Yes, that word order is grammatically possible:

• Umweltfreundlich ist dieses Fahrrad.

However, it sounds more like:

• a poetic or stylistic inversion
• or strong emphasis on the adjective umweltfreundlich (e.g. in an ad, a slogan, or spoken with emphasis).

In everyday neutral speech, the standard word order is:

• Dieses Fahrrad ist umweltfreundlich.
  → Subject (dieses Fahrrad) + verb (ist) + complement (umweltfreundlich).

So the “normal” version is what you’d usually say, and the inverted version is for special emphasis or style.

How do I pronounce Fahrrad and umweltfreundlich?

Fahrrad: [ˈfaːʁʁaːt] (roughly: FAHR-raht)

• Fahr-: long a (like father), rolled or uvular r.
• Double rr does not mean a longer sound; it just shows the syllable division: Fahr-rad.
• Stress is on the first syllable: FAHR-rad.

umweltfreundlich: roughly OOM-velt-FROIND-likh

• um – like oom (short u as in foot, but many learners make it a bit like oom).
• welt – like English velt (short e as in bed).
• freund – similar to English froynd (eu = oi / oy sound).
• -lich – likh, with the German ch (as in ich), not a k.

Main stress is usually on umwelt or on freund, depending slightly on speaker, but you can safely stress it as UMweltFREUNDlich with a stronger beat on um and freund.

When would I use umweltfreundlich for people or actions, not just objects like Fahrrad?

umweltfreundlich can describe:

• Things / products

  • Dieses Auto ist umweltfreundlich. – This car is environmentally friendly.
  • Umweltfreundliche Verpackung – eco‑friendly packaging.

• Actions / behavior

  • Er fährt mit dem Fahrrad zur Arbeit. Das ist sehr umweltfreundlich.
    He goes to work by bike. That is very eco‑friendly.

• Policies / systems

  • eine umweltfreundliche Energiepolitik – an environmentally friendly energy policy.

For people, Germans more often say:

• umweltbewusst – environmentally conscious
  
  • Sie ist sehr umweltbewusst. – She is very environmentally conscious.

You could say a person is umweltfreundlich, but it sounds more natural to apply it to their actions, lifestyle, or choices.