Die Tonanlage ist sehr laut.

to be

Breakdown of Die Tonanlage ist sehr laut.

• sehr: very
• laut: loud
• die Tonanlage: the sound system

Questions & Answers about Die Tonanlage ist sehr laut.

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

Because Tonanlage is a feminine noun in German, so its nominative singular article is die.

A useful thing to know is that German nouns have grammatical gender:

• der = masculine
• die = feminine
• das = neuter

So in this sentence, die Tonanlage is the subject, and feminine nouns in the nominative take die.

Also, die can mean:

• the for a feminine singular noun
• the for any plural noun

Here it is feminine singular, not plural.

What exactly is Tonanlage?

Tonanlage is a compound noun, which is very common in German.

It is made from:

• Ton = sound, audio
• Anlage = system, installation, setup

So Tonanlage means something like:

• sound system
• stereo system
• audio system

In German, compound nouns are written as one word, not as separate words.

Why is ist in the second position?