Breakdown of Die Stadt ist bekannt für den Fluss.
Questions & Answers about Die Stadt ist bekannt für den Fluss.
Because the preposition für always takes the accusative case in German.
- der Fluss = nominative (subject form)
- den Fluss = accusative (direct object form, masculine singular)
In the sentence Die Stadt ist bekannt für den Fluss, den Fluss is the object of the preposition für, so you must use the accusative form den, not the nominative der.
Die Stadt is in the nominative case, because it is the subject of the sentence, the thing that “is known.”
- Stadt is a feminine noun.
- The feminine definite article in the nominative is die.
So:
- die Stadt (feminine, nominative, subject)
- den Fluss (masculine, accusative, object of für)
bekannt means “known” or “well-known.” It can sometimes mean “famous,” but it’s a bit weaker and more neutral than the stronger berühmt (“famous”).
Subtle difference:
- bekannt: people know it; it’s known/recognized.
- berühmt: it’s famous, maybe internationally or very widely.
So:
- Die Stadt ist bekannt für den Fluss.
→ The city is (well) known for the river. - Die Stadt ist berühmt für den Fluss.
→ The city is famous for the river.
bekannt here is a predicate adjective after the verb sein (ist). Predicate adjectives in German do not take endings.
- After sein, werden, bleiben, etc., adjectives stay in the base form:
- Die Stadt ist bekannt.
- Der Fluss ist lang.
- Die Häuser sind alt.
Adjective endings appear when the adjective comes before a noun:
- die bekannte Stadt (the well-known city)
- der lange Fluss (the long river)
- die alten Häuser (the old houses)
In a normal German statement, the conjugated verb almost always comes in second position in the main clause.
Word order here:
- Die Stadt – first element (subject)
- ist – finite verb (must be in second position)
- bekannt für den Fluss – rest of the sentence
Die Stadt bekannt ist … is wrong in a main clause. That kind of verb-final word order appears in subordinate clauses, for example:
- …, weil die Stadt für den Fluss bekannt ist.
(…, because the city is known for the river.)
Yes, Die Stadt ist für den Fluss bekannt is grammatically correct and means the same thing.
German allows some flexibility in where you place prepositional phrases. Both are fine:
- Die Stadt ist bekannt für den Fluss. (more usual / neutral)
- Die Stadt ist für den Fluss bekannt. (slightly more emphasis on für den Fluss)
The verb still must be in second position; everything else can move around for emphasis.
You can, but the nuance changes slightly.
- bekannt für den Fluss = known for the river (typical fixed expression; quite neutral and common)
- bekannt wegen des Flusses = known because of the river
wegen takes the genitive:
- wegen des Flusses (genitive masculine singular)
wegen tends to focus more on the reason or cause. In many everyday contexts, bekannt für is the more idiomatic choice when talking about what a place is known for (tourism, features, specialties, etc.).
In German, all nouns are capitalized, but verbs and adjectives are not (except at the start of a sentence or in titles).
- Stadt – noun → capitalized
- Fluss – noun → capitalized
- ist – verb → not capitalized (here)
- bekannt – adjective → not capitalized (here)
So Die Stadt ist bekannt für den Fluss. follows the standard capitalization rule: every noun capitalized, everything else lowercase unless it begins the sentence.
You typically use wofür (“what for / what … for?”):
- Wofür ist die Stadt bekannt?
= What is the city known for?
Structure:
- Wofür – question word
- ist – verb in second position
- die Stadt – subject
- bekannt – predicate adjective
For a simple yes/no question (“Is the city known for the river?”):
- Ist die Stadt für den Fluss bekannt?
Here the verb ist goes in first position, which is standard for yes/no questions.
Native German speakers almost never say bekannt durch in this sense. The natural, idiomatic expression is:
- bekannt für … (known for …)
durch (“through / by means of”) is used in other contexts, e.g.:
- Er wurde durch seinen Film berühmt.
(He became famous through his film.)
But for “X is known/famous for Y,” use:
- X ist (bekannt/berühmt) für Y.
→ Die Stadt ist bekannt für den Fluss.
You can say it, but it means something different.
- für den Fluss = for the river (one specific river that defines the city)
- für Flüsse = for rivers in general (maybe the city has many rivers, or is known in general for having rivers)
In the original sentence, you are talking about one particular river associated with the city, so für den Fluss with the definite article den is the natural choice.
You mostly have to learn the gender with each noun. Articles help:
- die Stadt – feminine
- der Fluss – masculine
Some rough patterns exist (like many nouns ending in -ung, -heit, -keit being feminine), but Stadt and Fluss don’t follow a clear, easy rule for beginners.
Best practice:
- Always learn nouns with their article:
- die Stadt
- der Fluss
Then the cases:
- Nominative: die Stadt, der Fluss
- Accusative: die Stadt, den Fluss
Approximate pronunciation (IPA):
Stadt → /ʃtat/
- St at the beginning of a word is pronounced like English “sht”.
- The final -dt is a hard t sound; the d isn’t clearly separate.
- Similar to English “SHTAHT,” not “stat.”
Fluss → /flʊs/
- u here is a short [ʊ] (like the vowel in English “put,” not like “food”).
- Double s is a sharp s sound, like English “s”.
So the sentence sounds roughly like:
- [diː ʃtat ɪst bəˈkant fyːɐ̯ den flʊs]