Is it der, die oder das Konserve?

Finding the right gender of a noun

German articles are used similarly to the English articles,a and the. However, they are declined differently (change) according to the number, gender and case of their nouns.

In the German language, the gender and therefore article is fixed for each noun.

The most difficult part of learning the German language is the articles (der, die, das) or rather the gender of each noun. The gender of each noun in German has no simple rule. In fact, it can even seem illogical. For example das Mädchen, a young girl is neutral while der Junge, a young boy is male.

It is a good idea to learn the correct article for each new word together - even if it means a lot of work. For example learning "der Hund" (the dog) rather than just Hund by itself. Fortunately, there are some rules about gender in German that make things a little easier. It might be even nicer if these rules didn't have exceptions - but you can't have everything! The best way to learn them is with the App - Der-Die-Das Train! (available for iOS and Android)

German nouns belong either to the gender masculine (male, standard gender) with the definite article der, to the feminine (feminine) with the definite article die, or to the neuter (neuter) with the definite article das.

• for masculine: points of the compass, weather (Osten, Monsun, Sturm; however it is: das Gewitter), liquor/spirits (Wodka, Wein, Kognak), minerals, rocks (Marmor, Quarz, Granit, Diamant);

• for feminine: ships and airplanes (die Deutschland, die Boeing; however it is: der Airbus), cigarette brands (Camel, Marlboro), many tree and plant species (Eiche, Pappel, Kiefer; aber: der Flieder), numbers (Eins, Million; however it is: das Dutzend), most inland rivers (Elbe, Oder, Donau; aber: der Rhein);

• for neutrals: cafes, hotels, cinemas (das Mariott, das Cinemaxx), chemical elements (Helium, Arsen; however it is: der Schwefel, masculine elements have the suffix -stoff), letters, notes, languages and colors (das Orange, das A, das Englische), certain brand names for detergents and cleaning products (Ariel, Persil), continents, countries (die artikellosen: (das alte) Europa; however exceptions include: der Libanon, die Schweiz …).

German declension of Konserve?

How does the declension of Konserve work in the nominative, accusative, dative and genitive cases? Here you can find all forms in the singular as well as in the plural:

[1] Short for: General Boxes

[2] Food preserved in a canned box or a canned glass

[3] Record on an image or sound carrier

[4] Short for: Blood Pan, Vessel with sterile -filled blood

[1] Sie bestand, notabene für ihn ganz allein, aus drei Hühnern und einer ganzen Ochsenschwanz- oder Schildkröten-Konserve. (Karl May, Am Jenseits, z.n. Projekt Gutenberg)

[1] Die leeren Konserven sind ein wertvoller Rohstoff.

[1] „Ehe sie ausstiegen, holte der Major eine große, offene Einkaufstasche unter dem Sitz hervor, und Frau Holle konnte sehen, daß dort nicht nur Konserven, sondern auch Whisky verstaut war.“

[2] Die Ernte war sogar zu schlecht, um sie zu Konserven zu verarbeiten.

[2] Er hatte eine ganze Ladung verdorbener Konserven zum Müllplatz gefahren.

[3] Ich würde die Band ja gerne mal live sehen, statt sie immer nur aus der Konserve zu hören.

[3] Man mache sich die Verwandlung des Weltenraumes in einen lokalen Teil zunutze, so gut man kann, man bediene sich des Verfahrens, das unter dem Namen Zeitung eine Konserve der Zeit herstellt. (Karl Kraus, Lob der verkehrten Lebensweise, z.n. Projekt Gutenberg)

[4] Ohne Blut aus der Konserve wäre keine Operation denkbar.

[4] Er hatte vor dem Eingriff sein eigenes Blut gespendet, das nun in fünf Konserven für den Notfall bereitstand.