This video shows what I believe is the most difficult part of learning High German. Each noun has a so-called gender. But the genders are not necessarily what one would think. For example, der Tisch (the table) is masculine. One of the examples in the video, der Scooter, is also masculine. But die Strasse (the street) is feminine. Another example from the video, das Blatt (the leaf) is neuter. That is as one might expect. But another example of a neuter noun is das Mädchen (the girl). You would think that the word Mädchen (girl) would be feminine, but it isn't.
As if that weren't complicated enough, the definite and indefinite articles can change, depending on whether the noun is the subject, the direct object or the indirect object. Consider these examples from the video:
Das ist der Scooter. (That is the scooter.)
Ich sehe einen Scooter. (I see a scooter.)
Ich sehe den Scooter. (I see the scooter.)
Ich fahre mit einem Scooter. (I'm travelling on a Scooter.)
Ich fahre mit dem Scooter. (I'm travelling on the Scooter.)
See how the words for the and a change.
If you are just trying to understand High German, the genders and the cases are not that important, but if you are trying to speak it or write it correctly, there is a lot to keep in mind.
#Language #German #HighGerman #High German #Hoch Deutsch
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