Narrating with nouns: singular definite articles | German

Starter quiz

Which words mean 'the' in German?
- eine
- der ✓
- das ✓
- ein
- die ✓
Match the German nouns below to the correct English translations.
- Computerspiel (nt)
  
  ⇔
  
  computer game ✓
- Kopf (m)
  
  ⇔
  
  head ✓
- Form (f)
  
  ⇔
  
  shape ✓
- Familie (f)
  
  ⇔
  
  family ✓
- Zimmer (nt)
  
  ⇔
  
  room ✓
- Mensch (m)
  
  ⇔
  
  human being ✓
Match up the subjects and present tense verb endings.
- ich
  
  ⇔
  
  -e ✓
- du
  
  ⇔
  
  -st ✓
- er, sie
  
  ⇔
  
  -t ✓
Which of these words are conjunctions?
- und ✓
- aber ✓
- Liste
- oder ✓
- gelb
Translate the following sentence into English: 'Ich verstehe nicht!'.
- 'I don't understand!' ✓
Translate the following sentence into German: 'She talks with friends.'
- 'Sie redet mit Freunden.' ✓

Exit quiz

Match the English words below to the correct German translations.
- please
  
  ⇔
  
  bitte ✓
- thank you
  
  ⇔
  
  danke ✓
- body
  
  ⇔
  
  Körper (m) ✓
- night
  
  ⇔
  
  Nacht (f) ✓
- to come, coming
  
  ⇔
  
  kommen ✓
- again
  
  ⇔
  
  nochmal ✓
What is 'grammatical gender'?
- it is the same as biological gender
- it is a way of categorising nouns into different groups ✓
- it is a way of narrating events
- it is all words meaning 'the'
What is a definite article?
- a word meaning 'a'
- a word meaning 'the' ✓
- a word such as 'ich, du, er, sie'
How many present tenses are there in German?
- one ✓
- two
- three
Which definite article is missing here? '______ Mädchen'.
- 'das' ✓
Translate the following sentence into German: 'The father is standing.'
- 'Der Vater steht.' ✓

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

German has three words for 'the': 'der' (masculine), 'die' (feminine) and 'das' (neuter).
When learning a German noun, learn its grammatical gender.
There is only one present tense in German: 'ich lerne' means 'I learn' and 'I am learning'.

Common misconception

Grammatical gender is the same as biological gender.

Grammatical gender is not the same as biological gender, i.e., not all nouns referring to a female are gramatically female (for example, 'das Mädchen' = 'girl').

Keywords

Definite article - the words 'der', 'die', 'das', meaning 'the'
Grammatical gender - way to categorise all nouns as either masculine, feminine or neuter
Present tense - describes habitual events in the present: ‘I do’ or ‘I’m doing’