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- Topic: German >
- "Das ist die Dame des Hauses."
87 Comments
http://canoo.net/inflection/haus:N:N
If it's a masculine or a neuter noun, then es or s is usually added to the noun when it's genitive. Some masculine nouns, eg. Junge don't follow this rule. http://canoo.net/inflection/junge:N:M:boy
Plural dative: an n or en is added, eg. die Geschwister (nom, acc plural), but den Geschwistern (dat plural) http://canoo.net/inflection/geschwister:N:N
You leave grave accent symbols (`, left of the 1 key on most American keyboards) around the text:
(grave)text(grave)
to
text
whenever I think I start to get German and know the rules something like this comes along and I realize... nope...
Always like that, man. Especially regarding Akk, Dat, Gen... Sad, but true. ='(
I was just searching, this handout seems to be really informative, and your question was mine, exactly. I bookmarked this http://www.nthuleen.com/teach/grammar/genitivexpl.html
These rules are given by Duolingo in the Tips to the lesson on Genitive. If you can't see the tips you can find them on the duolingo website and place a link to that website on your phone.
345
In Portuguese we say "dona de casa" (owner/ruler of house) to refer to a woman whose sole or primary activity would be taking care of her household. Does "Dame des Hauses" have the same meaning?
No it's a rather sexist hangover from the 1950's and 60's when salespeople would ask for "the lady of the house."
- 551
Because it's the house's woman, not the woman's house. Except the house doesn't literally possess the woman, so we wouldn't say it that way.
Is there a particular reason why "That's the house's lady" is not acceptable? I guess it sounds funny, but it seems correct...
in english "lady of the house" is an expression which cannot be replaced by "the house's lady". So its not the grammar but common usage that requires this form.
- 495
I understand, "lady of the house" is common in English speaking countries. But why has DL not so much tolerance to say "the house's lady" is also right? Denn "I'm on the house's balcony." wurde auch akzeptiert.
- 294
@ Jrgen792736
Because while it may seem that "lady of the house" and "the house's lady" mean the same/similar thing but just have a different word order, that is not so.
"The lady of the house" means that the lady in question is in charge of the house or home. She may rent it, live there, be part of a couple... and so on.
However, if you say "the house's lady" you are saying that the house owns the lady. That she belongs to the house somehow. This is not at all what the German phrase "Die dame des Hauses" means.
The phrase in English "the lady of the house" is not just a sentence but also a set expression/idiom. That makes it different from something that is simply a sentence such as "that is the chair of the lady" which even if you wrote it "that is the lady's chair" would still basically mean that it is the chair that belongs to, or is used by the lady. Not that the lady belongs to the chair.
So basically Duo has no tolerance for "the house's lady" because it is wrong. As in an incorrect translation.
https://www.dict.cc/?s=lady+of+the+house
I know sometimes Duo insists on some rather odd or narrow translations, especially of expressions/idioms. But in this case, it is entirely correct.
It is not incorrect but would not usually be used by an English speaker. Matron is generally used for a female medical supervisor in day to day speech..
Not in the US. That's pretty much head nurse or nursing supervisor here, since religious nursing orders didn't dominate American hospital care. Matron is very rarely used here. I only ever see it in weddings, when the lead bridesmaid, usually called a Maid of Honor, is married. She is called the Matron of Honor. (Which is my weird title for a wedding this fall.) Matron phased out of American common usage in the 20th century sometime.
It's the genitive case. Masculine and neuter nouns get "es" added to the preceding article and noun, while feminine and plural nouns get "er" added.
Why use one of the few examples in English that typically demands the more formal-sounding structure (e.g. "of the house," rather than "house's lady.")! Duolingo's lesson on Genitive suggests that you can say "Das ist die Dame von dem Haus." but that it sounds stilted. Funny that this is one example in English when "the noun of the noun" is preferable to "the noun's noun"!
what case is 'die dame' acc. or dat. (sorry this is probably a really dumb question)
- 2031
Nominative, actually. "Is" is a linking verb, so whatever's after it is in the nominative to match the nominative before it. (A tricky concept, but it's the same reason grammar traditionalists will tell you to say "It is I" instead of "It is me.")
You can pretty much just remember that whatever comes after the verb "sein" is in the nominative, rather than the accusative like most verbs would use.
No such thing as a dumb question, because you obviously know something (accusative and dative, for example) in order to ask it! :-)
- 2031
That would be "Das ist das Haus (von) der Dame." Here we have "die Dame des Hauses" = "the lady of the house."
This where I peered at the question for a minute, got my translation wrong, then immediately had an AHA moment on seeing the answer
- 294
@ CheesyPie3
No. Unfortunately, "That is the house's lady" does not work in English unless you are saying that the house owns a lady. Which may be a pretty neat story.
Instead, the phrase "Das ist die Dame des Hauses /That is the lady of the house." means that the lady in question is the Lady who has authority by owning the house, being the housewife....or something like that.
So, "Das ist die Dame des Hauses." does translates as " That is the lady of the house." You probably already noticed that in learning language very often you can not just translate the individual words and string them together just any way and have it be right. This is one of those times.
- 2031
The correct English phrasing for this is "This is the lady of the house." The " 's" ending is normally only used for a person owning something.
- 2031
Because the English sentence has "That is the lady." "Sie" would be perfectly grammatical there but would mean "She is the lady."
Lady of the house and housemaid are two different things. A housemaid is a servant or employee of the house. The "lady" of the house is generally the wife.
"The lady of the house" is the head woman in the household. A "house lady" would be understood as a maid or housekeeper.
"the house's lady" implies that the house owns the lady. The lady owns the house, a house cannot own a lady. So it is "That is the lady of the house."
What do you say about "The house's owner"? Would it be bad English? If not, how can the house own its own owner? Maybe the possessive suffix 's can be used in more ways than just showing strict possession. Non native English speaker here. Cheers.
- 2031
"The house's owner" is fine, but I don't think many people would say it that way. "Owner of the house" sounds slightly better. But it's not a good translation of the German, since the "lady of the house" is not necessarily the owner. Best to use the direct translation "lady."
But you can certainly use "-'s" for something that's not strictly possession. "The dog's owner" or "the country's inhabitants" sound fine to me. I think "house's lady" mostly doesn't work because "lady of the house" is a common, fixed expression.
That is the lady of the house. I don't know whether woman would be accepted. The more important issue is that das is the lady (of the house), not the house (of the lady).
Woman should not be accepted. Lady of the house implies she is the head of the household.
I can't officially say why duolingo does or does not accept certain translations, however, I believe that in this case, it wants to stress that "Dame" translates to "lady".
Yes, the meaning would be the same, however, "lady" is more formal than "woman".
When being polite and formal, you would not say "Women and men", but rather "Ladies and Gentlemen".
- Frau = Woman
-
Dame = Lady
-
Man = Mann
- Gentleman = Herr
As I see it this sentence must be showing possession of the lady by the house.
That is the "House's" Lady.
She belongs to the house.
She is the Lady "of the House".
So instead of a possessive ('s like in English), an (es) is added to the end of Haus.
I can see right now that I do not like genitive.
There are more endings to remember and it makes the sentence look like something completely different.
