So, I decided to start learning German...

[Deleted member 5501]

Hi,

I decided to start learning German as I am quite interested in learning a language and I've picked up quite a few phrases and such.

However, for the Germans of nebulous.cloud I do have a question.

Why is 'der' (the) and 'die' (the) used subjectively for different things, I've also noticed it's the same for saying 'Mein' (My) and 'Meine' (My) as well as 'Ein' (A) and 'Eine' (A), let me give an example.

Initially my train of thought was that it was similar to 'mein' and 'meine' which is dependent on gender so for instance

Mein vater ist nett.
(My father is nice).
Meine mutter ist nett und groß.
(My mother is nice and tall).

Meine Schwester ist klug.
(My sister is smart).
Mein bruder ist nett und klug.
(My brother is nice and smart).

However, when it comes to things such as animals for instance this tends not to apply and I'm curious why this is, because for instance, let me give an example.

Correct:
Der hund, die katze, der elefant.

Mein hund, meine katze, mein elefant.

Ein hund, eine katze, ein elefant.

Die eule ist schön. (The).
Eine eule ist schön. (A).
Meine eule ist schön (My).

Why is 'der' (the) used as such for dog, but, 'die' (the) used for cat in this way? Why isn't is like this for instance...

Wrong:
Der hund, der katze, der elefant.
Mein hund, mein katze, mein elefant.
Ein hund, ein katze, ein elefant.

Der eule ist schön.
Mein eule ist schön.
Ein eule ist schön.

Also, how do you know when Der (the) is the correct pronunciation and when 'die' (the) is the correct pronunciation when it comes to animals and likely other things this baffles me and weirdly this only confuses me for animals for male and female relatives and people it doesn't.

Der mann is mein vater.
Die frau ist meine mutter.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This doesn't confuse me, but the animal subjectivity does. As I stated my thought process was that it went off of male or female pronunciation etc.. so when it came to using 'Der oder Die' this started to confuse me as I couldn't wrap my head around why you say...

The dog as Der hund

The cat as Die katze

Is there a reason this is the case, because I've noticed it's the same for Owl too.

The owl as Die eule.

Sorry if I explained this idiotically or badly, I am a beginner to the German language so sorry for butchering it but I'm struggling to wrap my head around the usage of 'The' in German because these things confuse me when there are two words for the same thing in another language.

I suppose I'm asking why there are two of the same words but with different spellings and usage in the German language.

Thankyou for being patient with me lol.

 

[Deleted member 5501]

Okay Germany, your Conventions confuse tf outta me, im still struggling to wrap my head around how Die can be both Plural and for Feminine. I do think im close however to understanding.

 

[Ond]

The manner of which Die is used in a sentence is determined by the subject/item that is discussed

if multiple subjects are implied in the sentence structure, you use Die, if a singular subject is feminine then you use Die. If I recall correctly, Die can also be used for objects in some cases but it's been a while since I had German grammar lessons

 

[Simman102]

Question - is this the first foreign language you're learning?

Is there a reason this is the case, because I've noticed it's the same for Owl too.

Every single word in German has a "gender". Der, die and das aren't just a translation of "the", they're permanently attached to every noun. Mein and meine are just derivates of that. For Germans it might seem natural, but it'll be confusing for a while. I don't think there's any solution other than forcibly memorizing them since I've never been taught any rules (I tried to apply stuff like "if it ends with -e, then it's probably a 'die'" but that unfortunately simply isn't the case.)

Ignore everything other than nominative for now if you're at the very beginning, it'll just confuse you

 

[Deleted member 5501]

Question - is this the first foreign language you're learning?

Every single word in German has a "gender". Der, die and das aren't just a translation of "the", they're permanently attached to every noun. Mein and meine are just derivates of that. For Germans it might seem natural, but it'll be confusing for a while. I don't think there's any solution other than forcibly memorizing them since I've never been taught any rules (I tried to apply stuff like "if it ends with -e, then it's probably a 'die'" but that unfortunately simply isn't the case.)

Ignore everything other than nominative for now if you're at the very beginning, it'll just confuse you

Yes, German is the first language I'm learning and thankyou for your information. I'm sure the more I learn the more it'll just become natural for me

 

[florek]

Small steps, you're doing good. The German language can be tricky to learn as there are lot of small things that construe our speaking into something that makes sense.

 

[Deleted member 5501]

Small steps, you're doing good. The German language can be tricky to learn as there are lot of small things that construe our speaking into something that makes sense.

Ja, danke, es geht ..... for now xD

It's alien to me but I can't help but feel a bit racist because when I try doing the pronunciation of German words I feel I'm subconsciously putting on the German accent to match instead of just saying it normally, or is that normal?

 

[florek]

Ja, danke, es geht ..... for now xD

Wenn du diesen Satz verstehen tust, hast du schon viel gelernt.

 

[Deleted member 5501]

Wenn du diesen Satz verstehen tust, hast du schon viel gelernt.

Not a chance, not having only started 3 days ago. Had to Google translate your sentence

 

[Deleted member 5501]

Wenn du diesen Satz verstehen tust, hast du schon viel gelernt.

I am actually curious though why is there two version of Goodbye and two versions of How are you?

Auf wiedersehen & Auf wiederhören

Both are Goodbye but don't understand why there's need for multiple but I guess all languages have multiple ways to say goodbye. Infact Germany has Tschüss as well. Plenty of ways, there's bis bald - see you soon and bis später - see you later

Wie geht's & wie geht's es ihnen

I presume one is How's it going and the other is how are you?

 

[Ond]

I am actually curious though why is there two version of Goodbye and two versions of How are you?

Auf wiedersehen & Auf wiederhören

Both are Goodbye but don't understand why there's need for multiple but I guess all languages have multiple ways to say goodbye. Infact Germany has Tschüss as well. Plenty of ways, there's bis bald - see you soon and bis später - see you later

Wie geht's & wie geht's es ihnen

I presume one is How's it going and the other is how are you?

Auf wiedersehen is "Until I SEE you again" and auf wiederhören is "Until I HEAR from you again"

though i've never heard the latter in common conversation, most people just say either auf wiedersehen, ciao or tschüss

Wie gehts is "How is it going" yes, other I don't remember

 

[florek]

Auf wiedersehen is "Until I SEE you again" and auf wiederhören is "Until I HEAR from you again"

Wiederhören is a word that is, or was, generally used when on the phone with somebody or if you write letters. Since you don't "see" the person, but only "hear" from them, you'd say "till I HEAR from you again", i.e. Auf Wiederhören. But since this is less and less the case, and esp. the modern youth has kind of a different vocabulary, you won't hear phrases like those used too often anymore.

 

[Deleted member 5501]

Auf wiedersehen is "Until I SEE you again" and auf wiederhören is "Until I HEAR from you again"

though i've never heard the latter in common conversation, most people just say either auf wiedersehen, ciao or tschüss

Wie gehts is "How is it going" yes, other I don't remember

Wiederhören is a word that is, or was, generally used when on the phone with somebody or if you write letters. Since you don't "see" the person, but only "hear" from them, you'd say "till I HEAR from you again", i.e. Auf Wiederhören. But since this is less and less the case, and esp. the modern youth has kind of a different vocabulary, you won't hear phrases like those used too often anymore.

Ah, Prost! ich bin dankbar

 

[Angel]

I learn german by listening to rammstein

 

[Ricsow]

Der hund, die katze, der elefant.

Mein hund, meine katze, mein elefant.

Ein hund, eine katze, ein elefant.

Die eule ist schön. (The).
Eine eule ist schön. (A).
Meine eule ist schön (My).

I don‘t know how helpful it is for you, but in Elementary School I had a tip that always helped me

Any noun with a article infront of it (der, die, das) begins with a capital letter, for example die Eule, der Hund, das Glas (the articles are usually not capital unless they‘re at the start of a sentence)

 

[Deleted member 5501]

I don‘t know how helpful it is for you, but in Elementary School I had a tip that always helped me

Any noun with a article infront of it (der, die, das) begins with a capital letter, for example die Eule, der Hund, das Glas (the articles are usually not capital unless they‘re at the start of a sentence)

Danke schön, Ricsow, Super ^_^

 

[Ricsow]

Danke schön, Ricsow, Super ^_^

Bitte

 

[Deleted member 5501]

Bitte

Naturlich :D

 

[Ricsow]

Naturlich :smiley:

If you can‘t type letters like ü or ä, you can put a e at the end of a normal u or a so it still counts as a umlaut (ue = ü, ae= ä, oe= ö)

 

[Deleted member 5501]

If you can‘t type letters like ü or ä, you can put a e at the end of a normal u or a so it still counts as a umlaut (ue = ü, ae= ä, oe= ö)

I haven't installed the German dialect to my computer keys for microsoft yet, but thankyou and you knew what i meant so all ist Güt