Is it der, die oder das Urwald?

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 Urwald?

How does the declension of Urwald 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] Naturally grown, original forest, in the existing and intact ecology of which there are no massive human interventions (such as forestry, slash -grubbing)

[1] Umgangssprachlich versteht man unter Urwald auch den tropischen Regenwald.

[1] Beim Marsch durch den Urwald mit seinem Gewirr von Schlinggewächsen blieb kein Waffenrock, keine Hose, kein Stiefel ganz.

[1] Das dichte Unterholz vor ihm zerriß wie platzende Leinwand; die jungen Bäume rechts und links bogen sich zur Seite und peitschten zurückschlagend seine Flanken; die harten Ranken der Schlingpflanzen hingen in dichtem Gewirr an den wegbahnenden Hauern, während der schwere Schädel unaufhaltsam vorstieß und sich den Pfad durch den Urwald pflügte.

[1] Weil sämtliche internationalen Bemühungen erfolglos blieben, will Trittin mit einem nationalen Kontrollsystem für Besserung sorgen. Danach müssen die Vermarkter belegen, dass das Holz nicht illegal in Urwäldern geschlagen wurde.

[1] Nirgends auf dem Globus flattert, kriecht, hüpft, fliegt oder schlängelt sich so viel Getier durch das Grün wie im Amazonas-Urwald, und nur ein Bruchteil davon ist überhaupt erforscht.