Learn Hardcore German: Die Jugendherberge ist einfach, aber der Schlafsaal ist sauber und die Atmosphäre freundlich. - The youth hostel is simple, but the dormitory is clean and the atmosphere friendly.

Die Jugendherberge ist einfach = The youth hostel is simple / basic / not luxurious.
It suggests the place is not fancy, maybe minimal facilities, simple furniture, etc.
einfach only means “easy” when talking about tasks or actions:
- Die Aufgabe ist einfach. – The task is easy.

Here, it’s describing the quality/standard of the hostel, not the difficulty of using it.

Why is it die Jugendherberge and not der or das Jugendherberge?

Jugendherberge is grammatically feminine, so it takes die in the nominative singular.

Noun gender in German (der/die/das) is mostly arbitrary and must be learned with each noun.
The word is a compound:
- die Jugend (youth) – feminine
- die Herberge (hostel/inn) – feminine
  The last part of the compound (Herberge) determines the gender, so the whole word is feminine: die Jugendherberge.

There is no logical rule an English speaker can rely on here—this is a vocabulary item to memorize:

die Jugendherberge – the youth hostel

What’s the difference between Jugendherberge and Hostel in German?

In modern German:

die Jugendherberge
- Traditionally refers to official youth hostels, often part of organizations (e.g. DJH in Germany).
- Often associated with school trips, youth groups, families.
- Sometimes membership or specific rules (curfews, age focus) apply.
das Hostel
- A more general, often commercial term borrowed from English.
- Used for backpacker hostels, budget hostels, etc.
- Not necessarily associated with youth organizations.

In everyday speech, people may use Hostel more broadly, but Jugendherberge still has that “classic youth hostel” feel.

What does Schlafsaal mean exactly, and how is it different from Zimmer or Schlafzimmer?

der Schlafsaal = dormitory / dorm room, usually:
- a large room with several beds or bunk beds
- shared with multiple people, not private
  → Think of hostel dorms, big rooms in boarding schools, etc.
das Zimmer = room (very general).
- ein Zimmer im Hotel – a room in a hotel (may be single, double, etc.)
das Schlafzimmer = bedroom.
- Usually a private bedroom in an apartment or house.

So in a youth hostel:

Schlafsaal = the big shared sleeping room with many beds.
Zimmer might be a smaller, more private room.
Schlafzimmer you’d more often use for a private home.

Why is there only one ist? Why not: „…aber der Schlafsaal ist sauber und die Atmosphäre ist freundlich“?

German often omits repeated verbs in coordinated clauses when the meaning is clear. This is similar to English:

English: The youth hostel is simple, but the dorm is clean and the atmosphere (is) friendly.
German: Die Jugendherberge ist einfach, aber der Schlafsaal ist sauber und die Atmosphäre freundlich.

The structure is:

der Schlafsaal ist sauber
und (die Atmosphäre ist) freundlich

The second ist is understood and can be left out. It would also be correct to say:

…aber der Schlafsaal ist sauber und die Atmosphäre ist freundlich.

Omitting it just makes the sentence a bit more compact and natural.

Why doesn’t freundlich have an ending like freundliche after Atmosphäre?

Because freundlich here is a predicate adjective, not an adjective directly in front of the noun.

Compare:

Attributive adjective (before the noun → needs an ending):
- Die freundliche Atmosphäre – the friendly atmosphere
  → freundlich becomes freundliche because it’s attached directly to the noun.
Predicate adjective (after a verb like sein, werden, bleiben → no ending):
- Die Atmosphäre ist freundlich. – The atmosphere is friendly.
  → freundlich stays in its base form.

In the sentence:

…der Schlafsaal ist sauber und die Atmosphäre freundlich.

Even though ist is omitted before freundlich, freundlich still functions like:

die Atmosphäre ist freundlich → predicate adjective → no ending.

Why is there a comma before aber?

In German, when aber connects two main clauses, you normally put a comma before it.

Here we have:

Die Jugendherberge ist einfach – full main clause
aber der Schlafsaal ist sauber und die Atmosphäre freundlich – another main clause, linked with aber

→ So you write:

Die Jugendherberge ist einfach, aber der Schlafsaal ist sauber und die Atmosphäre freundlich.

If aber is just a small adverb inside one clause (less common in modern German in that way), you might not use a comma, but in its usual meaning “but / however” connecting two full clauses, you do use a comma.

Does aber change the word order? Why is it aber der Schlafsaal ist… and not something like aber ist der Schlafsaal…?

aber is a coordinating conjunction (like und, oder, denn), and it does not change the verb position.

German main clauses use verb-second (V2) word order:

Der Schlafsaal ist sauber. – Subject (der Schlafsaal) first, verb (ist) second.

When you connect clauses with aber, the second clause is still just a normal main clause:

…, aber der Schlafsaal ist sauber …

If you started with something else (for example, an adverb), you could still keep the verb in second position:

…, aber dann ist der Schlafsaal sauber …
(aber dann is the “first part”, ist still comes second.)

You would not say: „aber ist der Schlafsaal sauber“ in this context; that would sound like a question.

Why do we use die Atmosphäre here? Could we also say something else?

die Atmosphäre means atmosphere / vibe / feeling of a place.

Die Atmosphäre ist freundlich. – The atmosphere is friendly / welcoming.

Alternative words:

die Stimmung – mood, vibe
- Die Stimmung ist freundlich / angenehm.
das Klima – literally “climate”; figuratively also “social climate”
- Das Klima ist freundlich. (less common in this exact hostel context, but possible)

Atmosphäre is very natural for describing the general feeling in a hostel, café, town, etc.

What are the plurals of Jugendherberge, Schlafsaal, and Atmosphäre?

die Jugendherberge → die Jugendherbergen
- Es gibt viele Jugendherbergen in Deutschland.
der Schlafsaal → die Schlafsäle
- Notice the vowel change: a → ä
- Die Schlafsäle sind groß und hell.
die Atmosphäre → die Atmosphären
- This plural exists but is relatively uncommon; usually we talk about one general atmosphere of a place:
  - Die Atmosphäre im Hostel ist freundlich.
- You might see the plural in more abstract or scientific contexts (e.g. different atmospheres of planets).

Does einfach sound negative? Is it rude to say „Die Jugendherberge ist einfach“?

einfach is not automatically negative. The tone depends on context and voice.

Neutral / mildly positive:
- Die Jugendherberge ist einfach, aber sehr gemütlich. – simple but very cozy → sounds nice.
Slightly critical (depending on how you say it):
- Die Jugendherberge ist sehr einfach. – could imply it’s a bit too basic for your taste.

In the given sentence, the “but” + positive part:

…ist einfach, aber der Schlafsaal ist sauber und die Atmosphäre freundlich. balances it out and makes it sound quite fair and neutral:
It’s not fancy, but it’s clean and friendly.

Why do we use the definite articles die and der here instead of something like “a youth hostel” or “a dormitory”?

German often uses definite articles (der/die/das) where English might use “a” or no article at all, but here it also fits the context:

Die Jugendherberge… – likely refers to a specific youth hostel already known in the situation (the one you’re staying in, the one you’re talking about).
…aber der Schlafsaal… – also a specific dormitory in that hostel.

If you wanted to talk more generally, you could say:

Eine Jugendherberge ist oft einfach, aber die Schlafsäle sind sauber. – A youth hostel is often simple, but the dormitories are clean.

So:

die / der → specific one in context
eine / ein → a non-specific, any one of that type