Answers
Oct 19, 2017 - 10:42 AM
Hi Magellan,
It is perfectly normal that you struggle and have to think about which article and which form of the article to use when translating at this stage. That is one of the biggest difficulties of the German language. Like in Latin, since words, and especially articles, have several forms depending on the role they play in the sentence, they're not as straightforward as in English and require a lot of work and thinking. Each time, you need to know both the gender and function of the word they accompany to know which article to use, hence the difficulty when translating.
While that's something that ends up being very natural in more advanced studies, it is definitely one of the biggest issues for beginners, so my advice for you would be to take it slow, take your time to learn each word with its gender and to learn each type of article well, repeat any lessons or workouts that still feel a bit obscure until you feel more confident with them, and practice as much as you can.
It will take time, but with persistence and good practice it will become more natural if you keep at it!
It is perfectly normal that you struggle and have to think about which article and which form of the article to use when translating at this stage. That is one of the biggest difficulties of the German language. Like in Latin, since words, and especially articles, have several forms depending on the role they play in the sentence, they're not as straightforward as in English and require a lot of work and thinking. Each time, you need to know both the gender and function of the word they accompany to know which article to use, hence the difficulty when translating.
While that's something that ends up being very natural in more advanced studies, it is definitely one of the biggest issues for beginners, so my advice for you would be to take it slow, take your time to learn each word with its gender and to learn each type of article well, repeat any lessons or workouts that still feel a bit obscure until you feel more confident with them, and practice as much as you can.
It will take time, but with persistence and good practice it will become more natural if you keep at it!
Sep 08, 2018 - 07:10 PM
Emilie, I have the same problem. I finished Spanish and after a while the problem starts to disappear. It's rote at first, then gradually you just start to get it. No magic, just seeing it over and over in context and soon you will have a feeling it's right. In Soanish nouns ending in a are usually feminine and those ending in O were masculine but I don't think that German has it that way. I'm still on level 1 lesson 6 and it's hard, but it will be easier. I have trouble with diese, er, es Ann die der days.
Sep 12, 2018 - 07:01 AM
Hi Toltec, thanks for sharing your experience! Like in Spanish, it will get easier with time, yet you're right that it is more complex in German, which has one more gender + variations in articles and endings depending on the function of words. There are a few tips that can help a bit like in Spanish, for examples words ending in ig/ling/s are usually masculine, words ending in heit/keit/schaft/ung are usually feminine, and words ending in tum or icht are usually neutral. However there are some exceptions, and you only know a few words at this stage. It is such a complex system that my advice for now would be to be very methodical, practice and repeat each word with its article a lot, and above all be patient, little by little it will make sense.
About the confusion you mention, keep in mind that:
- der/die/das all mean The, in its masculine, feminine and neutral forms.
- dieser/diese/dieses all mean This, in its masculine, feminine and neutral forms.
- er/sie/es respectively mean he/she/it.
Hope it clears things up a little! Keep it up!
About the confusion you mention, keep in mind that:
- der/die/das all mean The, in its masculine, feminine and neutral forms.
- dieser/diese/dieses all mean This, in its masculine, feminine and neutral forms.
- er/sie/es respectively mean he/she/it.
Hope it clears things up a little! Keep it up!
