All German word comparisons · Back to the topic overview
Meaning, sentence patterns and examples
| Word | Core meaning | Typical context | Grammar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landschaft | landscape; scenery | an area's appearance or character | die Landschaft; die Landschaften |
| Landwirtschaft | agriculture; farming | growing crops and raising livestock | die Landwirtschaft; usually singular |
Landschaft
Meaning and usage: Use Landschaft when describing the visible or geographical character of an area. A mountainous, coastal or urban landscape can each be a Landschaft. The word can also name a landscape picture and, figuratively, the overall arrangement of a field such as politics. It does not mean countryside exclusively: the character of the whole area is what matters.
Grammar: Feminine: die Landschaft, plural die Landschaften. Adjectives inflect normally: eine hügelige Landschaft. In einer Landschaft wohnen uses dative for location. Eine Landschaft beschreiben takes the landscape as an accusative object. As with other nouns, capitalization remains necessary inside a sentence.
Die Landschaft verändert sich von der Küste bis zu den Bergen.
The landscape changes from the coast to the mountains.
Das Gemälde zeigt eine winterliche Landschaft.
The painting shows a wintry landscape.
Landwirtschaft
Meaning and usage: Use Landwirtschaft for farming as an activity or sector, including growing crops and raising animals. Expressions such as in der Landwirtschaft arbeiten refer to the field of employment. Organic or regional Landwirtschaft describes a type of agricultural practice. In a separate, less central sense the noun can refer to an individual farm or agricultural operation.
Grammar: Feminine: die Landwirtschaft. Agriculture as an activity or sector normally has no plural. The dictionary also records die Landwirtschaften for individual farming establishments, so an absolute no-plural rule would be misleading. In der Landwirtschaft uses dative; die Landwirtschaft fördern has an accusative object.
Meine Tante arbeitet in der Landwirtschaft.
My aunt works in agriculture.
Die Region fördert eine umweltverträgliche Landwirtschaft.
The region supports environmentally compatible agriculture.
Overlap and context
Agriculture can shape a landscape, so both words may naturally appear in one explanation: Landwirtschaft prägt die Landschaft. This relationship does not turn scenery into a type of farming. In a phrase such as politische Landschaft, the geographical image is metaphorical; Landwirtschaft retains its connection to agricultural activity. Look at what is being described before translating either word as land or countryside.
Common mistakes
- Do not say schöne Landwirtschaft when you simply admire the scenery; schöne Landschaft is the intended phrase.
- Do not translate Landwirtschaft as landscape because it starts with Land-.
- Teach the ordinary singular of agriculture while acknowledging the less common countable farm sense; do not invent Landwirtschafts as a plural.
Memory aid: A Landschaft is what the area looks like. Landwirtschaft is what farmers do. Picture a farm as one part of a landscape, rather than equating the two whole concepts.
Try it
You are describing the view from a train window. Complete: Die ___ ist hier sehr hügelig.
Show the answer
Landschaft
Hilly describes the area's geography. Landwirtschaft would describe farming, not the overall view.