62 Comments
Yes, from a Proto-Germanic 'hrukkaz' and variant 'rukkaz' without the h-. It seems the F came about from Frankish via Medieval Latin 'hrocus' > 'froc'.
Most likely. English is based off of many languages, including (large ammounts of!) German.
"Ein Rock ist schon." The skirt is the subject of the sentence and is in the nominative case. "Sie tragt einen Rock." The skirt is the direct object in the sentence and is in the accusative case.
I know you posted this 3 years ago, but you seem to be on here a lot based on your levels in multiple languages and I see you have a streak. Could you possibly explain to me when to use "Der", "Die", and "Das" if you could? I have trouble with some of these forms :/ I know Der is masculine, but I always get Die and Das confused.
"Der" is masculine (nominative case only), "das" is neuter (nominative and accusative cases), and "die" is both feminine (
Ugh, hit post by accident and can't edit. To finish, "die" is both feminine and plural (nominative and accusative cases). Just to be confusing, "der" is also feminine (dative and genetive cases) and plural (genitive case only). Wikimedia has a handy chart of all of the definite articles in German: https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:German_definite_article_declension.png
To my understanding, in this sentence, it's "einen Rock" because it's in the accusative case. If it's nominative, it would be "ein Rock".
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Look them up on the internet. They're cases, and which case a word is in depends on it's function in the sentence. This chart tells you which article you should use: http://german.about.com/library/blcase_sum.htm
I wish they would conjugate the verb trägt. They leave some of the verbs dangling out there.
Ich trage, du trägst, er/sie/es trägt, wir tragen, ihr tragt, sie tragen, Sie tragen.
indefinite (a) vs. definite (the) - the reason high schools (used to) require foreign languages - it is where we learn our English grammar :-)
This is a scheme for the differences:
<pre> Man fem. Neutr. Plur.
</pre>
Nom. Der die das die Akk. Den die das die Dat. Dem der dem den
You use the nominative when the word is the subject: DIE Lampe hängt auf blahblah.
You use the accusative like in this sentence: Ich gebe DEN Vertrag an dir.
You use the dativ like with the words TO and FOR: ich gebe die Lampe an DEM Nachbar (neighbour)
193
LOL :)! Now I will also remember. In Afrikaans "Rok" is a dress and I keep translating Rock to dress
I think they did this on purpose to make you see the difference. The word Rock means skirt, not rock.
Because "tragen" (to carry) is a so-called strong, i.e. irregular verb in German.
Both in German and in English, there are irregular ("strong") verbs. They have a vowel change in the past tense and sometimes also in the past participle, i.e. the form of the verb used for the present perfect/past perfect. Ex. I sing a song - I sang a song (not: I singed a song) - I have/had sung a song (not: I have/had singed a song).
In German, some of these strong verbs additionally have a vowel change in the second ("du") and third ("er/sie/es") person singular in the present tense. That is also the case here, so it's:
tragen (to carry)
ich trage (I carry)
du trägst (you [familiar singular] carry)
er/sie/es trägt (he/she/it carries)
wir tragen (we carry)
ihr tragt (you [familiar plural] carry)
sie/Sie tragen (they/you [formal] carry).
It's the same with "sehen" (to see), for example: ich sehe, du siehst, er/sie/es sieht, wir sehen, ihr seht, sie/Sie sehen.
Unfortunately, you just have to memorise which verbs are irregular ("strong") and what kind of vowel changes they have. The same applies to people who learn English as a foreign language. A good dictionary will include some information about the vowel changes. The good news is that the number of strong verbs is limited. The bad news is that strong verbs are very old and therefore often refer to the most basic kinds of activities (eating, drinking, sleeping ...). For this reason, they are frequently used in everyday life.
"Just as much": No. In Swiss German it can have that meaning. On Duolingo we won't accept it. Just stick to
- Rock=skirt
- Kleid=dress
Why is English "frock" is labeled wrong for German "Rock". Frock is also called skirt.
Sie trägt Röcke. or Sie trägt viele Röcke. [viele=many] or Sie trägt einige Röcke. [einige=some/several]
i guess you need to update the website. i have only one choice for this question , and guess what ! it is the wrong answer! there's something i need it clarified, Kleidung/ shall we need to use any article before it or what!
- 1549
That's true; German doesn't use an "-ing" form like English does. But that just means that "She wears" and "She is wearing" both translate the same ("Sie trägt").
German conjugates the verb based on the subject ("ich/du/wir/etc.")-- much like "I am / You are / etc." The conjugation scheme is as follows (I'm using "spielen" just because "tragen" has the irregular umlaut):
- Ich spiele (trage)
- Du spielst (trägst)
- Er/Sie/Es spielt (trägt)
- Wir spielen (tragen)
- Ihr spielt (tragt)
- Sie spielen (tragen) (They or You-formal)
So "Sie tragen" would be "They wear" or "You wear."
(Also, since "der Rock" is masculine, you should use "einen Rock.")
More info here
Masculine and Feminine as grammatical genders have little to do with things being "manly" or "womanly" or with human gender. Just think of masculine, feminine, and neuter as three different noun categories. Mann happens to take "der" as an article, so nouns taking "der" are now "masculine." Frau happens to take "die" as an article, so nouns taking "die" are feminine.
It asked to fill in the last word, and my options were 'Kleid' and 'Rock.' Did I miss a context clue as to why Kleid is wrong?
In this sentence i was given the options "Rock" and "Kleid". I don't understand how we were expected to deduce what she was wearing?
What did the task look like? Were you given the words "Sie trägt einen __" and then had to fill in the gap with either "Rock" or "Kleid"?
In that case, only "Rock" works here because of the article "einen". "Rock" is masculine and "Kleid" is neuter, so it's:
Sie trägt einen Rock (masculine accusative).
Sie trägt ein Kleid (neuter accusative).
The question asked me to fill in the blank after "Sie trägt einen..." with either Kleid or Rock. It says the correct answer is Rock (skirt) but not Kleid (dress). Shouldn't the two objects be interchangeable here?
"Rock" is masculine and "Kleid" is neuter. In this sentence, both words are direct objects and have to be used in the accusative case. So it's:
Sie trägt einen Rock (accusative masculine)
BUT
Sie trägt ein Kleid (accusative neuter).
In this sentence, how can you tell if "she's wearing a skirt" or "she has the skirt ON"? (Duolingo says this last one is the right answer)
- 1549
Those mean the same thing and they're both correct. (See the top of this page-- "wearing" is actually the default answer.)
This question makes no sense. "Sie trägt einen....." rock or klied. How are you supposed to know which one it is?
- 1549
"Einen" is a masculine form, so it has to have a masculine noun after it. "(Der) Rock" is masculine, and "(das) Kleid" is neuter, so it has to be "Rock."
- 193
Yes, rather confusing also to me but as far as I know it is "einen Rock" and "ein Kleid". I find it difficult to remember which is the masculine form though :(
so how do you say "she wears a dress ?", got this one wrong, but do not understand why.
She wears a dress. = Sie trägt ein Kleid.
"Kleid" (dress) is neuter, but "Rock" (skirt) is masculine.
So it's "Sie trägt ein Kleid", but "Sie trägt einen Rock."
