both mean the..are they interchangable or does each requir special context ? if so what is it?
2007-04-21 03:50:32 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
what is the feminen? objects would be referred to as das right?
2007-04-21 04:00:03 · update #1
der=masculine nominative (and also feminine and plural dative)
das=neutral nominative and I think accusative
and die=feminine nominative and accusative
Every noun has a gender and a case--and no, not all objects are neutral. Not even all females are feminine.
2007-04-21 04:16:39 · answer #1 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
das is the neuter form of "the", and der is the masculine form. In the nominative case. It changes for the other cases (accusative, dative) and I can't think of it right now but I'm sure someone else will
2007-04-21 10:55:13 · answer #2 · answered by murnip 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The difference is that in german there is feminine (feminin), masculine (maskulin) and neuter (Neutrum)
die = feminine e.g. Frau
der = masculine e.g. Mann
das = neuter e.g. Kind
Therefore you'd say
"Das Kind ist schön" = "The child is pretty"
"Der Mann ist schön" = "The Man is pretty"
"Die Frau ist schön" = "The woman is pretty"
2007-04-21 11:10:52 · answer #3 · answered by * 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Like many Indo-European languages, noun classes are based on gender. All nouns in German are either neuter, feminine or masculine. Often, the inclusion of a particular noun in a category appears arbitrary and sometimes changes from dialect to dialect. For example, 'street' is feminine (die Strasse) and house is masculine (der Haus). The following chart gives the forms for the definite determiner (the) in German:
Case: Masculine/Feminine/Neuter/Plural
Nominative: der/die/das/die
Accusative: den/die/das/die
Dative: dem/der/dem/den
Genitive: des/der/des/der
The following website has more information:
http://www2.hu-berlin.de/linguistik/institut/syntax/hier/hierarchiepart3.html
Nominative Case is used for subjects
Der Mann sieht mich. (The man sees me)
Die Frau sieht mich. (The woman sees me)
Das Kind sieht mich. (The child sees me)
Die Leute sehen mich. (The people see me)
Accusative is used for direct objects (and some prepositions, especially prepositions involving movement)
Ich sehe den Mann (I see the man)
Ich sehe die Frau (I see the woman)
Ich sehe das Kind (I see the child)
Ich sehe die Leute (I see the people)
Dative Case is used for indirect objects (and with certain prepositions, especially ones not involving movement)
Ich gebe dem Mann 5$ (I give the man $5)
Ich gebe der Frau 5$ (I give the man $5)
Ich gebe dem Kind 5$ (I give the child $5)
Ich gebe den Leuten 5$ (I give the people $5)
Genitive is not commonly used in speech, but it is found frequently in formal writing. It is used for possessives and with a small set of prepositions.
das Buch des Manns (the man's book)
das Buch der Frau (the woman's book)
das Buch des Kinds (the child's book)
das Buch der Leute (the people's book)
Finally, to illustrate the difference in the use of Case with prepositions. Consider the following example:
Ich gehe in das Kino. (usually said as: Ich gehe ins Kino)
I go to the cinema
'I'm going to the cinema.' (movement)
Ich bin in dem Kino. (usually said as: Ich bin im Kino)
I am in the cinema
'I'm in/at the cinema.' (no movement)
2007-04-21 11:25:19 · answer #4 · answered by Mike B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Das is neuter. Der is masculine and Die is feminine
2007-04-21 11:17:00 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
der = masculine
das = neuter
dative: dem/dem
accusative: den/das
2007-04-21 10:57:53 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
the as and er
2007-04-21 10:57:32 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋