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Three Genders and Four Cases by Jeffery Donley, Ph.D.

German nouns are either masculine, feminine, or neuter, and the article changes (but not always) with the four cases. The three genders and four cases assign a distinct role for the nouns in a sentence. The change in role of a noun is indicated in the change of the article. Pronouns also change with the four cases.

Exercise 4

TRACK 1

Listen to the track on the accompanying CD and repeat each singular noun with its definite article. Then, listen to the track again and translate into English what you hear. On the second line, specify whether it is the nominative, genitive, dative, or accusative case.

The following examples are definite articles with nouns in the singular. The first answer has been provided for you.

<tgroup cols="3"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="33%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="33%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="34%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>1. <emphasis>der Mutter</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>to, for the mother</p></td> <td><p>dative</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>2. <emphasis>das Mädchen</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> <td><p>________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>3. <emphasis>den Vater</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> <td><p>________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>4. <emphasis>das Mädchen</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> <td><p>________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>5. <emphasis>die Mutter</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> <td><p>________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>6. <emphasis>des Mädchens</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> <td><p>________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>7. <emphasis>dem Vater</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> <td><p>________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>8. <emphasis>der Vater</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> <td><p>________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>9. <emphasis>dem Mädchen</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> <td><p>________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>10. <emphasis>der Mutter</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> <td><p>________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>11. <emphasis>die Mutter</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> <td><p>________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>12. <emphasis>des Vaters</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> <td><p>________</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 5</h2> <p>Please translate the following words into English.</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>1. <emphasis>Großmutter</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>2. <emphasis>Großvater</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>3. <emphasis>Kreis</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>4. <emphasis>Uhr</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>5. <emphasis>Stadt</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>6. <emphasis>Stier</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>7. <emphasis>Vetter</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>8. <emphasis>Winkel</emphasis></p></td> <td><para/></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>9. <emphasis>Wissenschaft</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>10. <emphasis>Woche</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 6</h2> <p>You have to attach an <emphasis>-s</emphasis> to the genitive singular for most masculine nouns such as <emphasis>des Haushalts</emphasis> and all neuter nouns such as <emphasis>des Kinderzimmers</emphasis>.</p> <p>In addition, you have to insert an <emphasis>e</emphasis> before the <emphasis>-s</emphasis> for one-syllable genitive masculine nouns such as <emphasis>des Stuhles</emphasis> and neuter: <emphasis>des Buches</emphasis>.</p> <p>The same rule applies to nouns ending in <emphasis>s</emphasis> or <emphasis>tz</emphasis> — do not forget the <emphasis>e</emphasis>.</p> <p>Translate and fill in the blanks, using <emphasis>des</emphasis> and one of the following words:</p> <p><emphasis>Mannes, Kindes, Schatzes, Fußes</emphasis>.</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>1. of the treasure</p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>2. of the foot</p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>3. of the child</p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>4. of the man</p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 7</h2> <p>With plural nouns, the three genders are not important. Instead the articles are all the same for all three genders in the nominative and accusative case.</p> <p>The article is <emphasis>die</emphasis>. Make sure that you add an <emphasis>n</emphasis>-ending for all plural nouns in the dative, but if they already end in an <emphasis>n</emphasis>, you do not need to add an additional <emphasis>n</emphasis>.</p> <p>Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the plural article and the translation.</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="2"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="50%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="50%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>1. Accusative:________ <emphasis>Mädchen</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>2. Dative:________ <emphasis>Mädchen</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>3. Genitive:________ <emphasis>Mütter</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>4. Dative:________ <emphasis>Müttern</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>5. Accusative:________ <emphasis>Mütter</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>6. Nominative:________ <emphasis>Mütter</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>7. Genitive:________ <emphasis>Väter</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>8. Accusative:________ <emphasis>Väter</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>9. Nominative:________ <emphasis>Väter</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>10. Dative:________ <emphasis>Vätern</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>11. Genitive:________ <emphasis>Mädchen</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>12. Nominative:________ <emphasis>Mädchen</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 8</h2> <p>Translate the words on the short lines and then use the words in a sentence. Try to find the correct articles and be creative.</p> <ul> <li><p><emphasis>Arbeit</emphasis>    ________________</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Beispiel</emphasis>    ________________</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Rock</emphasis>    ________________</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Buch</emphasis>    ________________</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Gabel</emphasis>    ________________</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Geld</emphasis>    ________________</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Freund</emphasis>    ________________</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Glas</emphasis>    ________________</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Kaffee</emphasis>    ________________</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Kekse</emphasis>    ________________</p> <p>____________________________________________________</p></li> </ul> <!--/gc--> <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/german-practice/the-article/the-attributive-adjective.htm" title="The Attributive Adjective">The Attributive Adjective</a></li><li class="next"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/german-practice/the-article/cases-in-action.htm" title="Cases in Action">Cases in Action</a> </li></ul></div></div> <div id="coda"> <div id="rel"><div class="n5">Related Articles</div><ul> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/german-practice/the-article/three-genders-and-four-cases.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Three Genders and Four Cases - German Practice </a></li> <li><a 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