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"Das" vs "Dass" - "Das" for 'The' and 'That'
Hello everyone!
What is the defference between "Das" and "Dass" in German?
If someone uses "Das", is there a way to know weither they mean 'that' (as in "Das ist groß ") or if they're talking about the article (as in "das Wasser")?
Thank you! AP4418
6 Comments
Very briefly put: das = "the" or "that/it", dass = "that".
Due to German punctuation rules, you will always find a comma before dass, as it indicates the start of a subordinate clause.
If someone uses "Das", is there a way to know wether they mean 'that' (as in "Das ist groß ") or if they're talking about the article (as in "das Wasser")?
Das before a verb means "that/it". Das before a noun (which is conveniently always spelled with a capitalised first letter) refers to the article.
1150
If you can exchange "that" by "which" or "who", by "it" or by "this" it is "das", if not it means "dass". In German we have the rule "Das s im "das", es bleibt allein, passt "dieses", "jenes", "welches" rein." (If you can exchange "das" by "dieses", "jenes" or "welches", it has just one s.)
I think after reading (and understanding) all these comments you will make less dass/das-mistakes than an average German.
By the way: When you read German texts you might sometimes find the word "daß". This is the old version of "dass". There was a orthography reformation in 2006.