Hello!

Ich bin Deutsch lernen; Ich sprechen (und schreiben) ein wenig Deutsch.

I am just starting but I needed some help regarding the "artikels" and verb forms that are to be used with various words. I was quite surprised and confused with the usage of "der", "die" and "das" and their associations with various nouns the other day in the class when they were introduced. Also I want to know if there's a trick to understand, apart from memorizing, the verb forms while using "Ich", "du", "er/sie/es", Sie/sie", etc. Speaking of which, what is the difference anyway between Sie and sie?

Any tips would be welcome. Thank you.

Oh dear!
You've already hit on one of the most difficult bits: the gender of nouns. No, there is no rule,I'm afraid.
das Mädchen (the girl), but: die Frau (the woman)
das Haus (the house), clearly a thing, but: die Wurst (the sausage) also clearly a thing
You've got to memorize it, just like Germans have to memorize prepositions that go with certain verbs.
I mean, why are people on a bus in English? They're not sitting on the roof, after all.
Sie and sie is easily explained: "Sie"is how you formally address an (adult) stranger, someone in a senior position, or someone you want to keep at arm's length.
"Schön Sie kennenzulernen, Herr Meier" would be "Nice to meet you, Mr Meier."
Younger people of the same age will most often use "Du", which is the informal equivalent of "Sie". But of course, the context is important. A bank clerk in his 20s will use "Sie" when dealing with a customer of the same age.
Germans are generally more formal than, say, the Dutch or the Swedes. Which is why the idiot IKEA folks who address everyone with "Du" in their ads here in Germany get on my tits big time.
"sie" is "she"/"her" (pronoun subject/object form)

Anna ist nett, sie hilft mir. Anna is nice, she helps me.
Ich liebe sie. I love her.

But interestingly, above about 1,000m above sea level, everybody (skiing instructors, shop assistants, waiters etc) seems to call you du!

(Or do they only do it to me? Hmm...)

Evolving wrote:But interestingly, above about 1,000m above sea level, everybody (skiing instructors, shop assistants, waiters etc) seems to call you du!

(Or do they only do it to me? Hmm...)

That's because you're dealing with us outgoing Austrians up there, not the Germans with brooms up their arses. (Actually, we just want your money.)

As for punter: Don't get your hopes up too much. My grandfather was Hungarian and although he lived in Austria for over 40 years he never got his head around the der/die/das issue. You'll do fine most of the time, and people will understand you anyway, but unless you're some kind of linguistic savant able to memorise the gender of every single German noun, there is no way in hell you'll get it right all the time. Glad I could help!

Evolving wrote:But interestingly, above about 1,000m above sea level, everybody (skiing instructors, shop assistants, waiters etc) seems to call you du!

(Or do they only do it to me? Hmm...)

1,000 m above sea-level is Bavaria. And they don't speak German in the strict sense of the word.
Also, punter, in written German you can either use "du" or "Du". "Du" is the older version. I prefer it, looks better, is more polite, IMO.

Regina wrote:1,000 m above sea-level is Bavaria. And they don't speak German in the strict sense of the word.

Reported for racism.

Regina wrote:Oh dear!
You've already hit on one of the most difficult bits: the gender of nouns. No, there is no rule,I'm afraid.
das Mädchen (the girl)

Well for this one there's a rule at least : all diminutives are neutral.

Can you think of a noun in German that ends in -ion and isn't feminine ?

Sgt Kelly wrote:

Regina wrote:Oh dear!
You've already hit on one of the most difficult bits: the gender of nouns. No, there is no rule,I'm afraid.
das Mädchen (the girl)

Well for this one there's a rule at least : all diminutives are neutral.

Can you think of a noun in German that ends in -ion and isn't feminine ?

Anion. Amnion. Chorion.

Diminutivaffixe sind nur solche Affixe, deren Bedeutung nicht lexikalisiert wurde. Die Wortendung -chen bei Mädchen oder Märchen ist zum Beispiel kein Diminutivaffix.

Meaning "Mädchen" is not a diminutive.

Well, it used to be the diminutive of "Magd", so he's technically right.

Mazille wrote:Well, it used to be the diminutive of "Magd", so he's technically right.

I go by the official version of all things grammar.

It's still the reason why Mädchen is neutral.
Und warum schreibe ich hier eigentlich in englisch?

Des frog i mi aa.

Siagstes, do hostes.

Mazille wrote:It's still the reason why Mädchen is neutral.
Und warum schreibe ich hier eigentlich in englisch?

Weil Du wahrscheinlich genau wie ich im English mode bist, sobald Du den Computer benutzt. Ich muß mich zwingen, auf Deutsch umzuschalten.

Mazille wrote:Siagstes, do hostes.

Wieso duzen Sie mich?

Und nochmal zum Thema Diminutive: solche, die auf "i" enden, sind nicht sächlich. Es heißt nicht "das Hansi", weil hier das biologische Geschlecht gilt, nicht das grammatische. Bei "das Hänschen" aber schon. Wer will dem armen punter das jetzt erklären?

Evolving wrote:Des frog i mi aa.

Was haben die FROGS damit zu tun?

Wohne schon über 33 Jahre hier und mache immer noch Fehler mit Genitiv und Dativ, korr. zu der, die, das. Merke nie wo der Umlaut für ü ist bei zurück zB, und andere grammatikalische Scherereien. Das ist der Grund warum ich vermeide Deutsch zu schreiben, obwohl beim Sprechen, habe ich selten Probleme da die Wiener der/die/das öfters verwechseln und es fällt nicht auf )
Groß und klein schreiben macht mich wahnsinnig manchmal, und sogar der Text Korrektur Programm Dings da macht Fehler.