German Language/Headscratchers: Difference between revisions
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== Grammar == |
== Grammar == |
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* The German language has different articles for masculine (der), feminine (die) and neutrum (das) nouns. So why does it employ masculine and feminine articles for things and ideas that cannot have a gender? Why is it "die Zeitung", "die Politik", "der Bottich", "der Nebel"? What makes a newspaper and politics feminine? What makes a vat and the fog masculine? Logically, the article should be DAS in all those cases! Also, the other way around: why is it "das Fräulein" and not "die Fräulein", when "Fräulein" clearly refers to a woman? The same for animals: why is it always "der Hund" and "die Katze"? It should be "der Hund" and "der Katze" if you talk about a male dog or cat; "die Hund" and "die Katze" if you talk about a female dog or cat! |
* The German language has different articles for masculine (der), feminine (die) and neutrum (das) nouns. So why does it employ masculine and feminine articles for things and ideas that cannot have a gender? Why is it "die Zeitung", "die Politik", "der Bottich", "der Nebel"? What makes a newspaper and politics feminine? What makes a vat and the fog masculine? Logically, the article should be DAS in all those cases! Also, the other way around: why is it "das Fräulein" and not "die Fräulein", when "Fräulein" clearly refers to a woman? The same for animals: why is it always "der Hund" and "die Katze"? It should be "der Hund" and "der Katze" if you talk about a male dog or cat; "die Hund" and "die Katze" if you talk about a female dog or cat! |
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