Surprising German articles: das Mädchen, der Käse
Some articles look wrong. A girl is das Mädchen, a cheese is der Käse. Here's why, and the words in Nounland that break a rule that mostly holds.
Grammar beats meaning
The article belongs to the word, not to the thing. -chen and -lein make every word das, even when it's a person: das Mädchen. The same goes for das Kind and das Baby, and a guest is der Gast whoever it is.
Words that break a rule
| Rule | Exceptions in Nounland |
|---|---|
| -e → die | der Hase, der Käse, das Auge, der Kaffee, das Gebäude, der Junge, der Löwe, der Affe, das Puzzle, der Bulle and 12 more |
| -chen / -lein → das | der Knochen, der Drachen, der Lebkuchen, der Pfannkuchen |
| -ei → die | der Papagei, das Rührei, das Spiegelei |
| -ion → die | das Stadion, der Skorpion |
| -ie → die | der Zombie, das Cookie |
| -or → der | das Labor, das Stadttor |
| -in (women) → die | der Cousin |
| -ich → der | das Sandwich |
Most masculine nouns ending in -e are people or animals, like der Junge. They also change in every case but the nominative: den Jungen, dem Jungen, des Jungen.
Same word, different article
| Word | with der | with die / das |
|---|---|---|
| See | der See: lake | die See: the sea |
| Leiter | der Leiter: manager | die Leiter: ladder |
| Band | der Band: volume of a book | die Band: music group |
| Steuer | das Steuer: steering wheel; die Steuer: tax |
Remember it with a picture
Nounland puts every noun in its world, each named after a noun with the same article: der like der Schnee, die like die Flamme, das like das Blatt. Picture the world, and the article comes back. Over 300 words are free, no app store needed.
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