this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2023
12 points (100.0% liked)

The German Language

321 readers
1 users here now

Welcome to the place to learn the German Language! Come here to discuss topics or quirks related to the German language, ask any questions about learning German, provide tips to current learners, and share your journey through the German-learning process!

RULES

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
DVD
 

Both der/das/die and den mean 'the' but when are they supposed to be used. Are they interchangeable?

I recently came across a statement on duolingo : Mia, der Stuhl ist da druben, Warum brauchst du den Stuhl.

Since it is translated as 'the' in both cases why is Mia, den Stuhl ist da druben, Warum brauchst du der Stuhl wrong

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Adding to the other comment, there's a reasonably well known book series called:

Der Dativ ist dem Genetiv sein Tod. [The dative is the death of the genitive].

Language changes and the genitive is slowly dying out. Instead of saying "das Bein des Stuhls" you'd say "das Bein vom Stuhl" or perhaps simply "das Stuhlbein".

There's also "des Stuhles Bein" as you mentioned but this'll make you sound like you're from the 19th century.