There are three main rules to remember when using these diminutive endings: they always make a noun
neuter
, regardless of what gender the original word was. they do not change in the plural form, eg das Mädchen (the girl), die Mädchen (the girls)
Why is Das used for girl in German?
In German,
a young lady has no sex, while a turnip has
. … He did not want to say that a young lady had no biological gender. If you look closer at the german word for “young lady”, you will notice the following: “das Mädchen” does have a gender called “neuter” – which is indicated by the article “das”.
Is girl masculine or feminine in German?
Some of the genders are obvious, such as the word for ‘
woman' is feminine
(die Frau), the word for ‘man' is masculine (der Mann) and the word for ‘boy' is masculine (der Junge). But just when you think you've got it, you get thrown a curve ball such as the word for ‘girl' (das Mädchen) is neuter.
How do you tell gender in German?
In German, most gender is unnatural. So instead of referring to a word's meaning, gender refers to the word itself. To point out the gender of nouns, you use different gender markers. The three gender markers that mean the (singular) in German are
der (masculine), die (feminine), and das (neuter)
.
Is Junge neutral?
“Das Mädchen” simply means girl (=female child), “das Kind” means child (= neutral), and for a male child or boy you would use “der Junge” (old-fashioned “der Knabe”, southern dialects as well “der Bub(e)”). As far as I can see, the
neutral gender for “girl
” comes from the ending “-chen”.
Why is girl masculine in German?
The main and most important reason is that Mädchen ends in ‘chen' and nouns which are diminutives and end in ‘chen'
are always neuter
. … As for girls, the word Mädchen is still neuter for two reasons, a) because it ends in ‘chen', b) because nouns ending in ‘chen' don't change in the plural.
Why does German have 3 genders?
In German, gender is defined not by the gender of the noun, but by the meaning and the form of the word. Genders in German were originally intended to signify three grammatical categories that words could be grouped into. The three categories were:
endings that indicated that a word was of neutral origin
.
Is Haus masculine or feminine?
Masculine or Neuter
Nouns
Hause is the old declension in the dative singular for das Haus (house). Volke is the classic declension of Volk (people) in the dative singular.
Is German hard to learn?
With plenty of straightforward rules,
German is not actually as hard to learn as most people think
. And since English and German stem from the same language family, you might actually be surprised at the things you pick up without even trying! And on top of it all, it's definitely a useful one, too.
Is Da German or Russian?
Borrowing from
Russian
да (da, “yes”).
What is neuter in German?
The diminutive form of nouns is
neuter. Nouns referring to young humans and animals are neuter. The “to” forms of verbs (called infinitives) used as nouns are neuter. Nouns ending in -nis or -tum are neuter.
What are the 3 genders in German?
All German nouns are included in one of three grammatical genders:
masculine, feminine or neuter
. However, the gender is not relevant to the plural forms of nouns.
Is Eine feminine in German?
Eine is used for feminine nouns
. Eine Frau, for example, would be “one woman.” The indefinite article changes according to the case of the noun. There are four cases– nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative. … If the noun is in the accusative case it's einen (masculine), eine (feminine) and ein (neuter).
Is kind in German neuter?
das Kind (plural: Kinder) is neuter
. Just like “enfant” remains masculine even when it does refer to a female child, Kind remains neuter. There is no gender difference in the plural (so it's always “die” when you're referring to multiple people or entities).
What does Mädchen mean in German?
noun. (also Madchen) In Germany and other German-speaking areas:
a girl
.
Is Junge masculine or feminine in German?
Now, ‘Der Junge' translates to ‘The Boy', which fits because Boy is
male
, but shouldn't Die be used for girl then?
