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German Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [definite-article]

relating to a determiner (der, die, das, des, dem, or den) that introduces a noun phrase and implies that the thing mentioned has already been mentioned, or is common knowledge, or is about to be defined.

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87 questions
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Why is there a definite article precedent to a name?

I was talking to a native German speaker and he tends to introduce himself like this: Ich bin der Philipp. Why "der"?
user508
8
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2 answers

Schweiz oder die Schweiz?

A recent Slow German Podcast has the following sentence: Vor allem in Deutschland, Österreich, Schweiz und Liechtenstein. I thought that some countries, including Switzerland, always include an article. So is this sentence in error by not having…
user38158
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3 answers

Definite articles for 1st person singular

I know this is a bit contrived, but with literature about clones and time travel and parallel universes, this is bound to come up. I traveled to 1995, and the I that I saw was not the I I remember being. Feel free to be imaginive, and please let…
perpetual
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"Der gute Mann" vs. "Ein guter Mann"

Wie nennt man die Konstruktion im Deutschen, wenn das Adjektiv eine andere Endung hat, wenn der Artikel definitiv bzw. nicht definitiv ist? Warum betrachtet man das nicht als anderen Kasus? "der gute Mann" vs. "ein guter Mann" (beides…
Andrew J. Brehm
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When is the definite article used before a language name?

When is the definite article supposed to be used in front of a language name? For example, Deutsch vs. das Deutsche, Englisch vs. das Englisch. As an English speaker, the definite article is not used before language names under any circumstances,…
HAL
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Why 'Den' instead of 'Der' in this sentence? Den größten Fehler, den man im Leben machen kann

Den größten Fehler, den man im Leben machen kann, ist, immer Angst zu haben, einen Fehler zu machen. This is translated into The biggest mistake you can make in life is always being afraid of making a mistake. But, why is it "Den grössten…
Chan Kim
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An die Freude - why "die"?

In his poem "Ode an die Freude", why did Schiller use the definite article? Why not just "an Freude"?
Mawg says reinstate Monica
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um Änderung/um die Änderung

Ich wundere mich, warum in diesem Satz der bestimmte Artikel vor dem Nomen Änderung ausgelassen wurde. Die Geschäftsführung knickte under der Last der Briefe und Anfragen ein, die uns vielleicht nicht in grosser Zahl, aber seit vielen Jahren mit der…
Taman
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Need for definite article in plurals

Sometimes, in German, I want to describe a plural of an objects for instance: Die Delphine können mit den Menschen in gewisser Weise kommunizieren. Dolphins are able to maintain certain communication with humans Now, for the most part, the…
vik1245
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Why need the definite article "Robin Hood lebte im Sherwoodwald"

I was reading a history book on the topic of Robin Hood and the following line was in it: Robin Hood lebte im Sherwoodwald Now, I know that this sentence translates to roughly Robin Hood lived in Sherwood Forest. but I also know that im = in…
David Smith
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Question about German definite articles

Das war ein Befehl! Der Angriff Steiners war ein Befehl! Those are the lines heard in the movie "Der Untergang." I am not sure why das is used in the first sentence. What I think is if the first sentence is intended to refer to Angriff, then the…
user4751
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When is the masculine "der" the English "of"?

I have seen that in German, sometimes the definite masculine article "der" is used as the English word "of". For example in the film "Das Leben der Anderen". I understand this translates to "The lives of others". I would expect this to be, in…
acolls_badger
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How to decide whether to use indefinite or definite articles?

Very elementary question, and one would expect that I would be able to answer it by now since I've been learnign the language for over a year and a half. A begineer asked me a question which stumped me, Meine Mutter faehrt naechste Woche in __…
tryst with freedom
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When does definite article denote possesion?

die kirche des allmächtigen gottes I read the above as "The church the almighty god" but if you plug this into google translate, you get: The Church of Almighty God Now, why does 'des' mean of here?
tryst with freedom
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Using definite article instead of pronouns

I've tried searching for this, as I know it's quite a simple question, but I'm probably not using the correct terms. I'm relatively new in learning German, and I often see things like the following: "Andreas? Der ist da." I know that in general,…
user13132640
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