Articles and Nouns (der, die, das · ein, eine)
This concept, which does not exist in English, is that every noun has a grammatical gender (Genus): masculine (maskulin), feminine (feminin), or neuter. This gender often cannot be guessed from the meaning of the word ('das Mädchen' - girl - is neuter, not feminine!), so you need to memorise every new word together with its article. This topic is one of the hardest parts for everyone learning German, but with practice, your ear will begin to sense over time which article 'sounds right' for which word.
INTRODUCTION
This concept, which does not exist in English, is that every noun has a grammatical gender (Genus): masculine (maskulin), feminine (feminin), or neuter. This gender often cannot be guessed from the meaning of the word ('das Mädchen' - girl - is neuter, not feminine!), so you need to memorise every new word together with its article. This topic is one of the hardest parts for everyone learning German, but with practice, your ear will begin to sense over time which article 'sounds right' for which word.