Das Festivalgelände ist schon voll.

to be

Breakdown of Das Festivalgelände ist schon voll.

• schon: already
• voll: crowded
• das Festivalgelände: the festival grounds

Questions & Answers about Das Festivalgelände ist schon voll.

What does Festivalgelände mean exactly, and why is it one long word?

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

It is made of:

• Festival = festival
• Gelände = grounds, site, area

So das Festivalgelände means the festival grounds or the festival site.

German often combines nouns into one word where English would use two or more separate words. That is completely normal:

• Bahnhof = train station
• Fußballstadion = football stadium
• Festivalgelände = festival grounds

The last part of the compound, Gelände, determines the grammatical gender, so the whole word is neuter: das Festivalgelände.

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

The noun Gelände is neuter, so it takes das.

In German compounds, the last noun decides the gender of the whole word. Since das Gelände is neuter, you get:

• das Festivalgelände

This is a useful rule for long German nouns:

• das Haus → das Gartenhaus
• die Tür → die Haustür
• der Platz → der Parkplatz