Breakdown of Unterhalb der Brücke liegt ein kleiner Spielplatz.
Questions & Answers about Unterhalb der Brücke liegt ein kleiner Spielplatz.
Both are possible, but they differ slightly in style and nuance.
unterhalb
- Genitive (unterhalb der Brücke)
- Literally: down below / on the lower side of the bridge
- Sounds a bit more formal or written
- Emphasizes a position lower than something in a spatial sense
unter
- Dative (unter der Brücke)
- Literally: under / beneath the bridge
- More neutral and common in everyday speech
- Just says that something is directly under the bridge
In many contexts they can describe the same place, but unter der Brücke is more colloquial and direct, while unterhalb der Brücke can sound slightly more descriptive or written.
Here der Brücke is genitive singular (of the bridge).
- The preposition unterhalb always takes the genitive.
- Brücke is feminine: nominative singular is die Brücke.
- Feminine genitive singular is der Brücke.
Very short paradigm:
- Nominative: die Brücke (the bridge)
- Genitive: der Brücke (of the bridge)
So unterhalb der Brücke literally means below of the bridge → below the bridge.
The verb is second. In German, the finite verb is the second element, not necessarily the second word.
Sentence: Unterhalb der Brücke liegt ein kleiner Spielplatz.
- 1st element: Unterhalb der Brücke (a whole adverbial phrase)
- 2nd element: liegt (the verb)
- Rest: ein kleiner Spielplatz
So the pattern is:
- [Adverbial] + [Verb] + [Subject / other stuff]
You could also say:
- Ein kleiner Spielplatz liegt unterhalb der Brücke.
Here the subject phrase comes first, but the verb liegt is still in second position.
Yes, that sentence is perfectly correct:
- Ein kleiner Spielplatz liegt unterhalb der Brücke.
The difference is mostly in focus and style:
Unterhalb der Brücke liegt ein kleiner Spielplatz.
→ Emphasizes the location first (Below the bridge, there is…).Ein kleiner Spielplatz liegt unterhalb der Brücke.
→ Emphasizes the thing first (A small playground is located…).
Grammatically, both are fine; you choose based on what you want to highlight.
German often uses specific position verbs instead of sein for static locations:
- liegen – to lie / be located (often for flat areas, places on a map)
- stehen – to stand / be standing (often for upright things)
- sitzen – to sit / be sitting
So:
- Unterhalb der Brücke liegt ein kleiner Spielplatz.
→ Literally: Below the bridge lies a small playground.
You could say:
- Unterhalb der Brücke ist ein kleiner Spielplatz.
That’s understandable, but liegt sounds a bit more natural and descriptive for a place that is located somewhere.
This is German adjective declension.
- Spielplatz is masculine.
- It is the subject → nominative singular.
- The article is ein (indefinite). With masculine nominative singular after ein, the adjective takes -er.
Mini pattern for masculine nominative singular:
- ein kleiner Spielplatz (a small playground)
- kein kleiner Spielplatz (no small playground)
- mein kleiner Spielplatz (my small playground)
If you used the definite article, the ending changes:
- der kleine Spielplatz (the small playground)
You have to learn the gender with the noun, usually from a dictionary:
- It will be listed as der Spielplatz.
Some hints:
- Many -platz nouns (der Platz, der Parkplatz, der Marktplatz) are masculine.
- Compound nouns often take the gender of the last part:
Spiel + Platz → Platz is masculine → der Spielplatz is masculine.
But there are many exceptions in German, so it’s safest to memorize the noun with its article: der Spielplatz.
Because in German all nouns are capitalized, no matter where they appear in the sentence.
So:
- Unterhalb der Brücke liegt ein kleiner Spielplatz.
- Brücke = noun → capitalized
- Spielplatz = noun → capitalized
Adjectives like kleiner and verbs like liegt are not capitalized (unless they start a sentence or are turned into nouns).
Yes, unterhalb is a genitive preposition, so it always takes the genitive case:
- unterhalb der Brücke (of the bridge)
- unterhalb des Berges (of the mountain)
- unterhalb der Stadt (of the city)
It is mainly used for spatial / physical relations (something is below something else), but it can be used metaphorically too, though that’s less common. In everyday speech for metaphorical uses, Germans more often use other expressions.
Yes, that’s a very natural sentence:
- Es gibt einen kleinen Spielplatz unterhalb der Brücke.
→ There is a small playground below the bridge.
Differences:
Grammar
- With es gibt, the thing that exists is always in the accusative:
einen kleinen Spielplatz (not ein kleiner Spielplatz). - With liegt, the playground is the subject in nominative:
ein kleiner Spielplatz liegt …
- With es gibt, the thing that exists is always in the accusative:
Meaning / focus
- Es gibt … → focuses on existence (There is / There exists …).
- … liegt … → sounds a bit more like location / position (is situated / lies …).
Both are correct; choice depends on what nuance you want.
You just put liegen into its simple past (Präteritum) form lag:
- Present: Unterhalb der Brücke liegt ein kleiner Spielplatz.
- Past: Unterhalb der Brücke lag ein kleiner Spielplatz.
→ Below the bridge there used to be / was a small playground.
Word order and cases stay the same; only the verb changes.
It’s the usual indefinite vs. definite distinction:
ein kleiner Spielplatz
- a small playground
- Not specified which one; new information; the listener doesn’t know which playground yet.
der kleine Spielplatz
- the small playground
- Refers to a specific playground that’s already known or identifiable in the situation.
Your original sentence introduces the playground as new, indefinite information, so ein kleiner Spielplatz is the natural choice.