Is it der, die oder das Sandstein?

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 Sandstein?

How does the declension of Sandstein 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] Without plural: rock from sand grains connected by a binder

[2] Sandstone stone [1]

[1] „Ein sogenannter Sandstein besteht fast nur aus Quarz, Quarz ist sehr standhaft gegen Verwitterung und deshalb in sehr vielen Steinsorten anzutreffen.“

[1] „Er kennt den Duft der Kirschbäume im Sommer und den feinen Staub des Sandsteins, der sich auf die Schuhe legt wie Schnee.“

[1, 2] „Die hierbei entstandenen Ablagerungen setzen sich an einigen Stellen des Alpenrandes aus groben. stark verkitteten Konglomeraten, der Nagelfluh, an andren aus Sandsteinen und Mergeln zusammen.“

[2] „Vom Fenster aus blickte man auf die schwarzen Eisenzäune, die von hohen Pfeilern aus Sandstein gehalten wurden.“