"Das" vs "Dass" - "Das" for 'The' and 'That'

[Desert-R0se]

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

[az_p]

It's a (demonstrative) pronoun when there's no noun after it: Das ist groß!

It's a (definite) article when there's a (neuter) noun after it: Das Wasser

The word dass is a (subordinating) conjunction, and is at the beginning of a subordinate clause.

[Hermesianax]

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.

[Desert-R0se]

Awesome, thank you!

[Jussel11]

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.

[Wildpinkler]

Just to give an example of "that" being used as a conjunction in English:

"It was so hot that I took my shirt off."'

The "that" in that sentence would be translated as "dass."

(I needed an example to first understand the difference. Hopefully that helps!).

[Desert-R0se]

Great! Thanks! This makes sense now!!