Die Blase im Glas ist klein.

The bubble in the glass is small.

Breakdown of Die Blase im Glas ist klein.

• sein: to be
• klein: small
• das Glas: the glass
• im: in the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
• die Blase: the bubble

Questions & Answers about Die Blase im Glas ist klein.

Why is it Die Blase and not Das Blase or Der Blase?

In German, every noun has a grammatical gender that you usually just have to learn with the word:

• die Blase – feminine (singular nominative)
• der Blase – would be feminine but in dative or genitive, not nominative
• das Blase – is simply wrong

In this sentence, Die Blase is the subject and is in the nominative case, so we use the basic feminine article die.

---

What exactly is im? Is it one word or two words?

Im is a contraction of two words:

• in (preposition “in”)
• dem (dative singular article for masculine or neuter nouns)

So:

• in dem Glas → im Glas

This contraction is very common and usually sounds more natural than saying in dem Glas in everyday speech.

---

Why is it im Glas and not in das Glas?

German uses different cases with in, depending on the meaning:

• in + dative → location (where something is)
  
  • im Glas (in dem Glas) = “in the glass” (location)
• in + accusative → direction (movement into something)
  
  • in das Glas = “into the glass” (movement towards the inside)

In your sentence, the bubble is located inside the glass (no movement), so im Glas (dative) is correct.

---

What case is Glas in, and why?

Glas is in the dative case here, because the preposition in (contracted as im) is used to indicate location:

• Preposition: in
• Meaning: location (“in the glass”)
• Case: dative
• Noun: das Glas → dative singular dem Glas → contracted to im Glas

So im Glas = in dem Glas (dative).

---

Why is Glas capitalized?

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

• die Blase – noun → capital Blase
• das Glas – noun → capital Glas
• ist and klein – verb/adjective → not capitalized (unless at the beginning of a sentence)

So Glas is capitalized simply because it is a noun.

---

Why is it klein and not kleine or kleines?

Here klein is a predicate adjective – it comes after the verb sein (ist) and describes the subject:

• Die Blase … ist klein.

Predicate adjectives in German do not get endings. They stay in their basic dictionary form:

• Die Blase ist klein.
• Das Glas ist leer.
• Die Kinder sind müde.

Adjective endings like -e, -en, -es appear when the adjective stands before the noun:

• die kleine Blase (attributive adjective, gets an ending)
• die Blase ist klein (predicate adjective, no ending)

---

What is the basic word order in this sentence, and can I change it?

The basic word order is:

1. Subject: Die Blase
2. Prepositional phrase: im Glas
3. Verb: ist
4. Predicate adjective: klein

So: Die Blase im Glas ist klein.

This follows the German rule that the finite verb must be in the second position in a main clause (the “V2 rule”).

You can change what comes first, but the conjugated verb must stay in second position. For example:

• Im Glas ist die Blase klein.
  (Prepositional phrase first, verb second, subject third.)
  This is grammatically correct, but sounds a bit more marked/emphatic.

---

Which parts of the sentence are the subject and the verb?

• Subject: Die Blase im Glas (the whole noun phrase, including im Glas as extra information)
• Verb: ist (3rd person singular form of sein, “to be”)

So the subject is one thing (the bubble in the glass), and the verb ist is singular to agree with it.

---

How would the sentence change if there were several bubbles?

You need to make both the noun and the verb plural:

• Singular: Die Blase im Glas ist klein.
  → “The bubble in the glass is small.”
• Plural: Die Blasen im Glas sind klein.
  → “The bubbles in the glass are small.”

Changes:

• Blase → Blasen (plural noun)
• ist → sind (3rd person plural of sein)

---

Why doesn’t German say Es gibt eine kleine Blase im Glas here?

Both are possible, but they do different things:

• Die Blase im Glas ist klein.
  Describes a specific bubble and tells us its quality (size). Focus: description.

• Es gibt eine kleine Blase im Glas.
  Literally “There is a small bubble in the glass.” This introduces the existence of a bubble. Focus: existence/appearance.

So:

• If you’re describing a bubble you both know about:
  → Die Blase im Glas ist klein.
• If you’re introducing the fact that there is a bubble:
  → Es gibt eine kleine Blase im Glas.

---

Does Blase always mean “bubble”?

No, Blase has several meanings, depending on context:

• bubble – e.g. Luftblase, Seifenblase
• (urinary) bladder – Harnblase
• blister on skin – eine Blase am Fuß
• figurative “bubble” – Finanzblase (financial bubble)

In Die Blase im Glas ist klein., the context “in the glass” makes “bubble” the natural interpretation.

---

How do you pronounce Blase and Glas?

• Blase: BLAH-zeh

  • Bla- like “blah”
  • -se pronounced like -ze, with a voiced z sound
  • final -e is a short unstressed sound, like the a in “sofa”

• Glas: Glaahs

  • long a sound, similar to “glahs”
  • final s is voiceless s (like in English “glass”)

So you have:

• Die Blase im Glas ist klein.
  → /di ˈblaːzə ɪm glaːs ɪst klaɪn/

---

Can I say die kleine Blase im Glas instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can use klein in front of the noun:

• die kleine Blase im Glas – “the small bubble in the glass”

Difference:

• die kleine Blase – attributive adjective (comes before the noun, takes an ending)
• die Blase ist klein – predicate adjective (comes after sein, no ending)

You can combine both in a fuller sentence:

• Die kleine Blase im Glas ist klein.
  (A bit redundant, but grammatically correct.)

More natural would be to choose one:

• Die kleine Blase im Glas ist geplatzt. (using kleine before the noun)
• Die Blase im Glas ist klein. (using klein after the verb)

---

Could you omit im Glas and still have a correct sentence?

Yes:

• Die Blase ist klein. – “The bubble is small.”

This is grammatically correct, but less specific. You lose the information about where the bubble is. The version with im Glas simply adds location detail:

• Die Blase im Glas ist klein. – “The bubble in the glass is small.”