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- Topic: German >
- "Die Tasche"
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Yes, Tasche can also mean pocket.
Both.
They're both kinds of pouches -- just that one is attached to an article of clothing, the other one can be carried around by itself.
Is not "die" for plural only? Or am I mistaken? I am getting confused here...
"Die" is both the (nominative) plural article and the (nominative) feminine singular article. "Die Tasche" is feminine singular, and the plural would be "die Taschen".
Die is also for something thats feminine but its also used for plural stuff too
What's the difference between a Tasche and a Tüte? Would they refer to different types of bags?
Yes.
Tasche means a pocket in a garment (trouser pocket/pants pocket, shirt pocket, etc.) and also a bag -- typically a more sturdy kind of bag such as a handbag.
Tüte is usually flimsier: for example, a plastic bag or paper bag that you might get when you go shopping.
Do an image search for the two terms to get an idea for "typical" examples of Taschen and Tüten.
I think the original Tüten were simple triangles of paper for selling loose items such as sweets; this may be why a Schultüte is called like that though those are cone-shaped. (It's a very German thing; English Wikipedia has an article on it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schult%C3%BCte but uses the German term since there's probably no established English word for it. We called it a "school cone" in our bilingual family.)
That's actually a nice distinction compared to the English "brown paper bag" or "grocery bag".
Having enjoyed the film, "Lola Rennt" (Run Lola Run), several times I thought I understood the word "Tasche." It's a grocery bag like the kind in which Manni stashed the 100,000 Deutschmarks, right?
Yet when I was grocery shopping in Munich, and asked for "eine Tasche bitte" the cashier said that wasn't the right word for it. Apparently, the right word is "die Tüte." Can someone explain the difference? I checked the movie again on YouTube, and they definitely called it a "Tasche."
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I think the cashier was wrong. In my part of Bavaria you can definitely say Tasche. The difference for me is that Tasche or Einkaufstasche or Stofftasche is made from cloth and a Tüte is made from paper or plastic.
I would say No, because if someone says "Tasche" in Germany he never thinks of a purse
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That's where you're incorrect. Everyone is my Austrian family uses the word tasche for purse.
If I'm not mistaken, duolingo suggests purse(s) for the "... Taschen aus Leder" translation.
Americans call handbags purses right?
Purse usually means a wallet type thing that women keep their coins in.
yes that's correct we refer to the whole handbag as a purse, but also use "change purse" to refer to the bag type thing for coins. I also feel that I saw duolingo say Handtasche to me at some point and would agree that that would be the American equivalent to purse. Could someone confirm this? and also I want to know for certain if "Tasche" refers to both bags like plastic or paper bags as well as being the word for pocket, which I recall from previous lessons.
Tüte (or something like that) is the word Duolingo matches with a picture of a purse.
A bit related :
Why are Taschentuch (pocket cloth ie handkerchief) and Taschenbuch (pocket book ie paperback) not Taschebuch and Taschetuch?
Because Taschentuch, Taschenbuch "sounds better".
When joining two nouns together, we sometimes insert a Fugenlaut ("joint sound"?) to connect the two: -e-, -s-, -n- are common.
Here, it's an -n-. Similarly with Orangensaft.
Not all words change in the same way when they become plurals. Some get an "e", some get an "n", and sometimes other things happen too. Duolingo has a lesson on "Plurals" which you should revise (the explanation on the lesson webpage is helpful). You can also look for other explanations online, like this one.
As in English, a Sack is a type of bag. Duolingo usually doesn't want you to make the translation more or less specific, so it is unlikely to be accepted.
Sack means a clothes pocket in, I think, Switzerland and Austria (so a pocket knife could be a Sackmesser there): http://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Sack#Bedeutung1b
But in general, this course doesn't teach such regionalisms but focusses on German-from-Germany.
How come bag falls under clothing? Are trash bags all the rage in Germany?
Well, first of all Tasche can also mean pocket, but I don't suppose you've heard of handsbags?
Can this mean just any bag, like trash bag, purse, sack, backpack, etc.?
Can someone explain why die Tasche = the bag, die Taschen = the bags, but Taschenrechner = calculator... what does a calculator has to do with a bag? I thought compound words made sense in German, well at least most of them.
Man, half the time I get a listening exercise I miss it because I translate it.
I'm still always guessing what type of "the" to use. Why isn't there any grammar lessons on this app?
I wish I knew.
I believe there are plans to bring the grammar notes to the apps eventually as well, but I don't know when they will be there.
Meanwhile, tips and notes for each new unit have been on the website for months.
So you may wish to move from the app to using the website on a PC.
Tablets may work as well, especially in landscape orientation, but viewing the website on a smartphone screen may show you a view that acts like an app (including not giving you access to the tips and notes, unfortunately).
I know Ich ends with -e, du ends with -st and ihr ends with -t. But what is Die end with -?
die Tasche = the bag.
There is no verb here. It's not a full sentence.
If there were a verb, it would take the -t ending for er, sie, es, e.g. die Tasche steht auf dem Tisch.
I am so confused about how to tell if a word is Feminine, Masculine or Neutral, it seems so random to me. Can someone explain this?
Nope, just gotta remember it as part of the vocabulary (i.e. find a way to remember die Tasche, not just Tasche when you hear a new word). Eventually you might notice some patterns but there are is no consistent set of rules that works for all words.
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I have found it best to try to remember a small phrase using an article that distinguishes the gender. Eg Die Tasche ist gross. For some reason it is easier to remember it.
