Is it der, die oder das Marmelade?

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 Marmelade?

How does the declension of Marmelade 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] Fruit mark boiled with sugar or boiled ripe fruits or berries that are used as a spread

[2] According to an EU regulation: from sweet citrus fruits of existing spreads

[3] In the figurative sense, colloquially: moving and pressing road users in a lively mess

[1] „Marmelade darf es nur heißen, wenn Zitrusfrüchte drin sind und 50 Prozent raffinierter Industriezucker. […] Nicht ganz zu verstehen ist, warum es nun bei einem Fruchtanteil über 50 Prozent Aufstrich und der Beigabe von Honig oder Rohrzucker nicht Marmelade heißen darf, sondern eben Aufstrich. Da ist das deutsche Sprachgefühl ein wenig gestört. Denn Marmelade klingt anspruchsvoller als Fruchtaufstrich.“

[1] „Der in Deutschland und Österreich verbreitete Begriff ‚Marmelade‘ darf laut Richtlinie 2001/113/EG nicht mehr verwendet werden, wenn der Fruchtaufstrich nicht nur aus Zitrusfrüchten besteht.“

[1] „Marmelade stand auf dem Tisch.“

[1] „In Efes Tasche befanden sich eine Plastiktüte mit sechs Brötchen, ein Glas Marmelade, eine Packung Schinken, ein Tetrapack Orangensaft und ein Bündel harter Bananen, die irgendwie künstlich aussahen.“

[2] „Nur Zitrusfrüchte werden zu Marmeladen verarbeitet: Fruchtmark, Schale oder Saft, gemischt mit Wasser und Zucker. Auf 1000 g entfallen mindestens 200 g Fruchtmenge.“

[1, 2] Er strich die Marmelade auf sein Brot.