German A1: DER, DIE, DAS. What are they?

From the new words above, did you notice the words (der, die, das) before each word? In German, there are three genders: masculine, feminine and neutral. When you learn a new word, you will also have to learn if it is masculine (der), feminine (die) or neutral (das). Der, die, and das are called definite articles of the noun which means "the". 

 Look at these examples: 

• der Mann (the man)
• die Frau (the woman)
• das Auto (the car).

Tip: Memorize the articles as soon as you learn a new word. This would be very important when you start learning grammar. 

It could be confusing sometimes, because the gender of some words don't make any sense. For example, das Mädchen (the girl). The article is das (neutral), but the word is literally female!

Tip: want to sound more natural? The German article "der" is pronounced as a fast "de-yuh". You would sometimes not hear the "r" at the end of the words. 

“Long” German words are usually just a bunch of short words crammed together, so it would be imperative to build your vocabulary. When you see a long German word, divide it into smaller chunks (syllables) then get on pronouncing each syllable clearly. Eventually, you'll be able to combine the different syllables and pronounce the whole word together faster.

In any language, it would be very difficult to progress to grammar if you do not have a good vocabulary foundation. Try to memorize the vocabulary taught in every lesson.

Here is the next set of German A1 words you need to learn and memorize to pass the German A1 exam. After learning the alphabet and pronunciation, the next most important things to learn are common words. Make sure you memorize the articles (der, die and das), as you learn new words, because they will be very important later on, when you start learning about grammar.

Vocabulary Set 1

1. das Essen - food
2. das Getränk - drink
3. das Lebensmittel - food / groceries 
4. der Hunger - hunger
5. das Wasser - water
6. die Milch - milk
7. das Brot - bread
8. das Brötchen - bread roll
9. das Ei - egg
10. das Obst - fruit
11. das Gemüse - vegetable
12.  das Fleisch - meat
13.  der Fisch - fish
14.  der Kaffee - coffee
15.  der Saft - juice

Play the video below to listen to the pronunciation of more German A1 vocabulary.

In the next lesson, we will continue learning how to count in German from 21 onwards. 

To go back to the lessons list, click here.