map of ubahn

Is it der, die oder das Ratte?

DIE

The correct article in German of Ratte is die. So it is die Ratte! (nominative case)

The word Ratte is feminine, therefore the correct article is die.

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.

Test your knowledge!

Choose the correct article.

DER

DIE

DAS

Stahl

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 Ratte?

How does the declension of Ratte 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 Singular Plural
Nominative die Ratte die Ratten
Genitive der Ratte der Ratten
Dative der Ratte den Ratten
Akkusative die Ratte die Ratten

What is the meaning of Ratte in German?

Ratte is defined as:

[1] mouse-like rodent

[1] mausähnliches Nagetier

[1a] Mouse-like rodent of the genus Rattus

[1a] mausähnliches Nagetier der Gattung Rattus

[1b] another mouse-like rodent

[1b] anderes mausähnliches Nagetier

How to use Ratte in a sentence?

Example sentences in German using Ratte with translations in English.

[1] Im Keller saß eine große Ratte.

[1] There was a large rat in the basement

[1] "Die Ratte lebt vom Abfall, der Künstler vom Einfall und der Schlüsseldienst vom Zufall."[2]

[1] "The rat lives from rubbish, the artist from ideas and the locksmith from chance." [2]

[1] Ratten und Mäuse bilden mit über 400 Arten die große Familie der Langschwanzmäuse oder Muridae.[3]

[1] With over 400 species, rats and mice form the large family of long-tailed mice or Muridae. [3]

[1] „Dann konnten sie an der Decke oben, über ihren Köpfen, eine Ratte hören, die in der Mansarde umherhuschte.“[4]

[1] "Then they could hear a rat on the ceiling above, over their heads, scurrying around in the attic ." [4]

[1] „Das Ungeziefer, das mich peinigte, milderte jedoch die Todesangst, die mir die Ratten einflößten, und gerade diese Todesangst wiederum ließ mich die Insektenstiche weniger spüren.“[5]

[1] "The vermin that tormented me, however, alleviated the fear of death that the rats instilled in me, and it was precisely this fear of death that made me feel less of the insect bites." [5]

[2] Du Ratte!

[2] You rat!

How do you pronounce Ratte?

Ratte

The content on this page is provided by Wiktionary.org and available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.