Breakdown of Deine Antwort ist genau richtig.
Questions & Answers about Deine Antwort ist genau richtig.
Deine agrees with Antwort, which is a feminine noun (die Antwort).
Possessive determiners like dein- take endings similar to ein:
- masculine nominative: dein (e.g. dein Computer)
- feminine nominative: deine (e.g. deine Antwort)
- neuter nominative: dein (e.g. dein Buch)
- plural nominative: deine (e.g. deine Bücher)
Because Antwort is feminine and the subject (nominative), you need deine.
Deine Antwort is in the nominative case.
Reason: It is the subject of the sentence — the thing that “is exactly right.”
In German, the subject of a normal statement is in nominative case, so the determiner must take nominative endings: deine.
Unfortunately, grammatical gender in German is largely something you must learn with each noun. You should memorize nouns with their article, for example:
- die Antwort – the answer
Some patterns:
- Many nouns ending in -t that come from verbs (Antwort < antworten) are feminine, but this is not a fully reliable rule.
- Dictionaries always list the gender: e.g. Antwort, die.
So treat die Antwort as one chunk to learn.
You already have a possessive determiner (deine), and in German you normally don’t combine a normal article with a possessive:
- deine Antwort = your answer
Not: die deine Antwort (except in special emphatic structures like die deine, which is different: “the one that is yours”).
So deine replaces die here.
Deine Antwort ist richtig = “Your answer is correct/right.”
→ It’s simply correct.Deine Antwort ist genau richtig = “Your answer is exactly/right on the mark.”
→ Emphasizes that it is precisely correct, not just roughly or partially.
genau adds the idea of accuracy or exactness.
Here richtig is a predicative adjective used with sein:
- Antwort (subject, nominative)
- ist (verb sein)
- richtig (predicative adjective)
Predicative adjectives in German (after sein, werden, bleiben) do not take endings:
- Die Antwort ist richtig.
- Das ist interessant.
- Sie bleibt ruhig.
So richtig stays in the base form.
genau is an adverb here, modifying the adjective richtig:
- richtig = correct
- genau richtig = exactly / precisely correct
So the structure is:
- Antwort – noun
- ist – verb
- genau – adverb
- richtig – adjective
You cannot treat genau as an adjective directly describing Antwort in this sentence; it’s tied to richtig.
Yes, grammatically you can say:
- Genau richtig ist deine Antwort.
This is correct but more stylistic or emphatic. It puts strong emphasis on genau richtig (“Exactly right is your answer”). In everyday neutral speech, Deine Antwort ist genau richtig is more typical.
You cannot say something like Deine Antwort ist richtig genau; that would be wrong.
Yes, but the meaning changes in terms of formality and possibly person:
- Deine Antwort – your answer (informal du, singular)
- Ihre Antwort – your answer (formal Sie, singular or plural; written Ihre with capital I)
- ihre Antwort – her answer or their answer (lowercase i)
Context and capitalization decide whether Ihre means formal your or her/their.
Roughly in IPA:
Deine – [ˈdaɪ̯nə]
- ei like English “eye”
- final -e is a short, unstressed uh sound.
Antwort – [ˈantvɔʁt]
- w is pronounced like English v
- stress is on Ant-: Ánt-wort.
ist – [ɪst] (like English “ist” in “list”)
genau – [ɡəˈnaʊ̯]
- au like English “ow” in “cow”
- stress on the second syllable: ge-NAU.
richtig – [ˈʁɪçtɪç]
- German r is a throat sound
- -ig here sounds like -ich ([ɪç]).
Both exist, but they’re not identical:
ganz richtig = completely / entirely correct
→ Emphasizes the degree (100% correct, not partly).genau richtig = exactly / precisely correct
→ Emphasizes precision and fittingness (perfectly on point).
In many contexts they overlap, but genau richtig highlights “spot on,” while ganz richtig highlights “fully, not partially.”