Der Abend war wunderbar.

to be

Breakdown of Der Abend war wunderbar.

• der Abend: the evening
• wunderbar: wonderful

Questions & Answers about Der Abend war wunderbar.

Why does the sentence start with der?

Der is the definite article meaning the.

In this sentence, Abend is a masculine noun, and it is the subject of the sentence, so German uses der:

• der Abend = the evening

If the noun were feminine or neuter, the article would be different:

• die Nacht = the night
• das Wetter = the weather

What gender is Abend, and do I just have to memorize it?

Abend is masculine, so its dictionary form is der Abend.

Yes, in many cases you do need to learn German nouns together with their articles:

• der Abend = the evening
• der Tag = the day
• die Zeit = the time
• das Jahr = the year

Learning the article together with the noun is very important, because gender affects:

• articles
• adjective endings
• pronouns
• some case forms

So it is best to memorize der Abend, not just Abend.

Why is Abend capitalized?