Learn German: "das" and "dass" explained
To many learners of German "das" and "dass" is difficult to comprehend, since the two words look very similar, while having the exact same pronounciation.
While "das" is a simple article like "der, die, das" (das Haus, das Kind, das Eis), "dass" is used as a conjunction to start the subordinate clause.
Examples for "das":
a) Ein Kind, das in den Laden gegangen ist, hat Milch gekauft. (A child who went into a store bought milk).
b) Ein Haus, das grün ist, sieht schöner aus als ein Haus, das blau ist. (A house that is green looks better than a house that is blue).
In these cases you do not write "dass", but "das".
A short rule: Every time you can substitute the "das" with "dieses, welches oder jenes", you are not using "dass".
For example, you can also write a) Ein Kind, welches in den Laden gegangen ist... or b) Ein Haus, welches grün ist...
"Dass" is used for the subordinate clauses, unlike "das", which refers to a subject or object.
Examples for "dass":
a) Ich weiß, dass du sehr intelligent bist. (I know that you are very intelligent)
The subordinate clause "dass du sehr intelligent bist" is the object of the main sentence.
Question for you: "What do I know?" --> "...dass du sehr intelligent bist."
While "dass" usually comes after a semicolon, it is also possible to start a sentence with "dass":
b) Dass du schwimmen kannst, das finde ich toll. (The fact that you know how to swim is something I find to be fantastic).
c) Die Entscheidung, dass wir Maria schwimmen beibringen, war gut.
Here it is used in order to specify "Entscheidung", so it serves as an attributional subordinate clause.
Exercises for you (insert "das" or "dass" into the ___):
- Das Mädchen, ____ ich heute gesehen habe, ist sehr hübsch. (The girl I saw today looks very pretty.)
- ____ du backen kannst, ist etwas, ___ ich nicht gewusst habe! (The fact that you know how to bake is something I did not know!)
- Das Eis, ___ du gekauft hast, schmeckt nicht gut. (The ice cream which you bought today does not taste good.)
- Die Lösung, ___ du uns Geld gibst, wenn wir dir mit dem Aufräumen deiner Wohnung helfen, gefällt uns. (We like the solution of you giving us the money for helping you cleaning your room.)
- Ich wusste nicht, ___ du den Film bereits gesehen hast! (I did not know that you already watched this movie!)
Auf geht's!
Many Germs from the northern part of the country always mix them up, whereas in the southern part of the country it happens less often. My theory is that this is because in the south they pronounce the words differently. Das is pronounced as "des", and daß is pronounced "das". To all Prussians: If in doubt, just imagine a guy from Bavaria saying the sentence.
Being a Prussian myself I am actually not that well acquainted with the Bavarian dialect, so you may be on to something here!
I am trying to learn German just now ... Well slowly learning it I have gave up a few times it just doesn't work with my Scottish accent but this is really helpful because these are the type of words I struggle with!! Thanks for sharing saved it to my favourites so I can look back on it :D
As a German I am sure hearing someone speaking German with a Scottish accent sounds fantastic!
Let me know if you have any questions - as with any language it is just "practice, practice, practice", just like fitness.
Oh maybe it is just what I am hearing but it sounds awful when I try not that i can actually make a sentence in German but any word I try to pronounce it sounds very harsh haha!
Yes practice makes perfect :D
Nah, German is a harsh language already, and having a German accent is also not known to be as melodic as Italian.
So, do the "dass" "das" exercises! Leg day, chest day, German day. :D
hey buddy just stopping by to upvote!
as a native English speaker, i always attributed them like this:
das = the
dass = that
this is obviously a super simplistic breakdown, but that always seemed to be the case for me (though my German is REALLY rusty after all these years)