Why is girl not feminine in German?
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Why is girl not feminine in German?
The logic behind some German Articles Have you ever wondered why the word for girl, das Mädchen, is neuter instead of feminine in the German language? In German, every noun has a gender, and there is no sense or system in their distribution; so the gender of each noun must be learned separately and by heart.
Why is it Ein Madchen?
Mädchen belongs to Neutral gender hence the article used is ‘Ein’ and not eine. In German, why isn’t the “ein” before mädchen eine, instead of eine? Because the suffix “chen” turns a word into a diminuitive which are always neutral in German and therefore have the neutral article “ein”.
Is Frau masculine or feminine?
Unlike English, every noun in German is assigned one of three genders: masculine, feminine or neuter. 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).
Is Tur masculine or feminine?
Identifying a German Word’s Gender
| Usually Masculine (der) | Usually Feminine (die) |
|---|---|
| -er (especially when referring to male people/jobs) | -ade, -age, -anz, -enz, -ette, -ine, -ion, -tur (if foreign/borrowed from another language) |
| -ich | -e |
| -ismus | -ei |
| -ist | -heit |
What gender is school in German?
The gender of Schule is feminine.
Why is the German word Mädchen 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. By saying das Mädchen, we know it’s one girl, whereas die Mädchen is more than one.
What is the difference between ‘ das Mädchen’ and ‘die mäthen’?
By saying das Mädchen, we know it’s one girl, whereas die Mädchen is more than one. There is one compromise, though. If we wanted to say ‘The girl is little. She is called Lisa and she lives in Berlin’ we should say ‘ Das Mädchen ist klein.
How do you say the girl is little in German?
If we wanted to say ‘The girl is little. She is called Lisa and she lives in Berlin’ we should say ‘ Das Mädchen ist klein. Es heißt Lisa und es wohnt in Berlin ‘. That would be grammatically correct and is still sometimes used, because the personal pronoun for neuter nouns is ‘es’.
What is the relationship between English and German?
English and German both belong to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family. Because they are so closely related, they share many features. Furthermore, the English language is pervasive in German media and popular culture. It is not surprising, therefore, that many Germans learn English quickly and easily.