DER, DIE oder DAS? Regeln für Artikel │Perfektes Deutsch lernen

Lingster Academy

17 Feb 201907:35

Summary

TLDRIn this educational video, Julia tackles the challenging concept of grammatical gender in German, a common stumbling block for learners. She explains that all nouns in German are categorized into masculine, feminine, or neuter genders, with 34% masculine, 46% feminine, and 20% neuter. Julia offers strategies to remember noun genders, such as using natural gender for human nouns and learning common patterns for non-human nouns. She provides examples of masculine nouns like weekdays and car brands, feminine nouns with certain endings, and neuter nouns like nominalizations and colors. Her advice is to always learn nouns with their articles for better retention. The video aims to simplify German grammar and encourages viewers to engage with the content by suggesting topics for future videos.

Takeaways

😱 German nouns have grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter.
📊 34% of German nouns are masculine, 46% are feminine, and only 20% are neuter.
🗣️ When unsure of a noun's gender, using the article 'die' is a safe bet.
👦👧 For nouns describing humans, use the natural gender: 'der Mann', 'die Frau'.
📅 Masculine nouns often include weekdays, months, seasons, times of day, and directions.
🚗 German car brands like Audi, BMW, and Volkswagen are masculine nouns.
💰 Masculine nouns can also be identified by certain endings like 'motor', 'director', and 'carpet'.
🌳 Feminine nouns are the majority, with 46% of all nouns, and include numbers, trees, and certain fruits.
🏫 Feminine nouns often end in -heit, -keit, -ung, -schaft, and -tät, and many two-syllable nouns ending in -e.
🌈 Neuter nouns make up only 20% and include nominalizations, colors, letters, materials, and fractions.
🔗 Neuter nouns can be identified by certain endings like diminutives, and words ending in -ma, -tum, and -chen.
📚 Julia advises learning nouns together with their articles for better retention.

Q & A

What are the three grammatical genders in German?
-The three grammatical genders in German are masculine, feminine, and neuter.
What percentage of German nouns are masculine?
-34% of German nouns are masculine.
If you are unsure about the gender of a noun, which article should you use?
-If you are unsure about the gender of a noun, you should use the article 'die'.
Which types of nouns are typically masculine in German?
-Weekdays, months, seasons, times of day, directions, weather terms, car brands, alcohols, and currencies are typically masculine.
What are some typical masculine noun endings in German?
-Typical masculine noun endings include -or, -er, -ig, -ling, -ismus, and nouns describing male humans like specialist, mechanic, technician, etc.
Which types of nouns are typically feminine in German?
-Numbers, trees and plants, many fruits, and nouns with certain endings like -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ion, -ie, -ur, -e (especially with two syllables) are typically feminine.
What percentage of German nouns are feminine?
-46% of German nouns are feminine.
Which types of nouns are typically neuter in German?
-Nominalisations, colors, letters, many materials, fractions, diminutives, and nouns with certain endings like -chen, -lein, -um, -ment, -tum, and borrowed verbs from English are typically neuter.
What percentage of German nouns are neuter?
-20% of German nouns are neuter.
What is the advice given for learning German nouns effectively?
-The advice given is to always learn nouns together with their articles.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Grammatical Gender in German Nouns

This paragraph introduces the concept of grammatical gender in German, which is a common challenge for learners. It explains that all nouns in German have one of three genders: masculine, feminine, or neuter. The speaker provides statistics, indicating that 34% of nouns are masculine, 46% are feminine, and 20% are neuter. As a general rule of thumb, when unsure, one can use the feminine article 'die'. The paragraph also touches on the gender of nouns when referring to humans, which typically follows natural gender, and mentions that there are no universal rules for non-human nouns but provides some helpful guidelines for masculine nouns, such as weekdays, months, seasons, times of day, directions, weather conditions, car brands, alcohol types, and certain noun endings.

05:04

📚 Tips for Remembering German Nouns' Gender

Continuing the discussion on German noun genders, this paragraph offers additional insights and tips for learners. It covers feminine nouns, noting that they make up the majority at 46%, and provides examples of common feminine nouns, including numbers, trees, plants, fruits, and nouns ending in specific suffixes. The paragraph also addresses neuter nouns, which constitute 20% of all nouns, and lists examples such as nominalizations from verbs or adjectives, colors, letters, materials, fractions, and nouns with certain endings. It also points out that some neuter nouns have diminutive forms and includes examples of neuter nouns borrowed from English. The speaker concludes with advice to always learn nouns in conjunction with their articles to better retain this aspect of the German language.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Grammatical Gender

Grammatical gender refers to the classification of nouns into categories that are traditionally associated with gender, such as masculine, feminine, and neuter. In the context of the video, it is the main theme as it discusses the gender of nouns in the German language. The script explains that all German nouns have a gender, which is crucial for using the correct articles 'der', 'die', and 'das'.

💡Nouns

Nouns are a part of speech that represent a person, place, thing, or idea. In the video, the focus is on the gender of nouns in German, which is essential for language learners to master. The script provides percentages to illustrate the distribution of masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns, emphasizing the importance of learning noun genders for proper language usage.

💡Articles

Articles are words that define a noun as specific or unspecific. In German, the definite articles 'der', 'die', and 'das' correspond to masculine, feminine, and neuter genders, respectively. The video script explains that knowing the gender of a noun helps in choosing the correct article, which is fundamental for constructing sentences in German.

💡Masculine

Masculine is one of the three grammatical genders in German, typically associated with male entities but also applied to many inanimate objects. The script mentions that 34% of nouns are masculine and provides examples such as weekdays, months, seasons, and car brands, which are all masculine in German.

💡Feminine

Feminine is another grammatical gender in German, often associated with female entities but also with a significant number of nouns that are not. The video script highlights that 46% of nouns are feminine, making it the most common gender. Examples given include numbers, trees, plants, and certain fruits.

💡Neuter

Neuter is the third grammatical gender in German, used for objects that are neither masculine nor feminine. The script points out that only 20% of nouns are neuter, which is the least common gender. Examples provided include nominalizations, colors, letters, materials, and fractions.

💡Natural Gender

Natural gender refers to the biological sex of living beings, typically male and female. The video script clarifies that it is not discussing natural gender but rather the grammatical gender of nouns. When referring to humans, German uses natural gender for nouns like 'teacher' and 'pupil'.

💡Weekdays

Weekdays are the days of the week excluding weekends. In the script, it is mentioned that weekdays are typically masculine in German, which is an example of a rule that can help learners remember noun genders. Days like 'Monday' and 'Tuesday' are given as masculine nouns.

💡Car Brands

Car brands are the names of companies that manufacture automobiles. The script specifically mentions German car brands such as Audi, BMW, and Mercedes, which are noted as masculine nouns. This example helps illustrate how certain categories of nouns, like car brands, follow gender patterns in German.

💡Alcohol

Alcohol refers to intoxicating beverages, and the script mentions that certain types of alcohol are masculine in German, such as 'Wine', 'sparkling wine', and 'schnapps'. This provides another category of nouns that learners can associate with a specific gender to aid in memorization.

💡Nominalizations

Nominalization is the process of turning a verb or an adjective into a noun. The video script explains that nominalizations are typically neuter in German, providing an example like 'walking' becoming 'the runner'. This concept helps learners understand how verbs and adjectives can change gender when converted into nouns.

Highlights

German nouns have three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter.

34% of German nouns are masculine, 46% are feminine, and 20% are neuter.

When unsure of a noun's gender, using the article 'die' is a common practice.

German learners can use natural gender when referring to humans.

Weekdays, months, seasons, and times of day are typically masculine nouns.

Directions and certain weather conditions are also masculine, except for 'cloud'.

Car brands like Audi, BMW, and Volkswagen are considered masculine nouns.

Alcohol types such as wine, sparkling wine, and schnapps are masculine, but not beer.

Currencies like euro, dollar, and rouble are masculine, but rupee and pound are not.

Masculine nouns often have specific endings like 'motor', 'director', and 'carpet'.

Many feminine nouns end in -e, especially with two syllables.

Neuter nouns make up only 20% of all nouns in German.

Nominalisations, converting verbs or adjectives into nouns, are typically neuter.

Colors, letters, and certain materials are examples of neuter nouns.

Neuter nouns can have diminutive endings and are often derived from English verbs.

Learning nouns with their articles is recommended for better retention.

The video offers a comprehensive guide to understanding German noun genders.