{"id":11520,"date":"2020-03-05T14:51:53","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T14:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=11520"},"modified":"2020-03-12T15:38:34","modified_gmt":"2020-03-12T15:38:34","slug":"nouns-with-multiple-articles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/nouns-with-multiple-articles\/","title":{"rendered":"Nouns with MULTIPLE Articles?!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Willkommen zu Transparent Language! <strong>Der<\/strong> Blog f\u00fcr deine Portion Deutsch! Oder&#8230; <strong>Das<\/strong> Blog f\u00fcr deine Portion Deutsch?<\/em> In a recent post, I told you <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/german-articles-all-you-need-to-know\/\">everything you need to know about German\u00a0<em>Artikel\u00a0<\/em>(articles)<\/a>. But there is something I left out. And that is the strange case where one single\u00a0<em>Nomen\u00a0<\/em>(noun) can have multiple\u00a0<em>Artikel<\/em>. Why and how does this work?<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong>Coronavirus<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>You&#8217;ve probably not missed the news of <em>das Coronavirus\u00a0<\/em>(the coronavirus), an epidemic that has reached many places in the world. My colleague <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/learn-about-it-in-german-coronavirus\/\">Constanze wrote an post explaining about it in German<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But today I don&#8217;t want to focus on this virus, but on its\u00a0<em>Artikel<\/em>. As it turns out,\u00a0<em>Virus\u00a0<\/em>is German word that has\u00a0<em>zwei Artikel\u00a0<\/em>(two articles). Since it is such a hot topic right now, it is talked about a lot, and so I can present you with some evidence of this <em>schwankender Artikelgebrauch <\/em>(varying article use):<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wie gef\u00e4hrlich ist das Coronavirus?\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IuuGsxO5Bmw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In this video, produced by the\u00a0<em>Bundesministerium f\u00fcr Gesundheit <\/em>(Federal Ministry of Health), both the title, graphics and the\u00a0<em>Virologe <\/em>(virologist) interviewed all use the article <em>das<\/em>. So you hear <em><strong>das Coronavirus<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And here is an example of a video by the\u00a0<em>Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club\u00a0<\/em>(ADAC) (General German Automobile Club), where the Article\u00a0<em>der\u00a0<\/em>is used:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wenn der Coronavirus Euren Urlaub bedroht | ADAC | Recht? Logisch!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Gy5d0a2-fJI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As you can hear, the presenter almost always uses <strong><em>der\u00a0<\/em><em>Coronavirus\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>&#8211; almost always, because right at the beginning he says\u00a0<em>das sich immer weiter ausbreitende Coronavirus\u00a0<\/em>(the ever further spreading coronavirus), instead of\u00a0<em>der<\/em>. So what&#8217;s going on? Why do two reputable outlets both use different articles for the same noun?<\/p>\n<h2><strong>From Neuter Origins<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_11522\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/aM8z29w0WTk\" aria-label=\"Virus Washing Hands Boy Derdas Coronavirus 1024x502\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11522\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11522\"  alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"502\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/virus-washing-hands-boy-derdas-coronavirus-1024x502.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/virus-washing-hands-boy-derdas-coronavirus-1024x502.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/virus-washing-hands-boy-derdas-coronavirus-350x172.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/virus-washing-hands-boy-derdas-coronavirus-768x376.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/virus-washing-hands-boy-derdas-coronavirus-1536x753.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/virus-washing-hands-boy-derdas-coronavirus-2048x1004.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-11522\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">H\u00e4ndewaschen kann helfen, das Virus zu stoppen! Oder den Virus zu stoppen? (Image by CDC at Unsplash.com)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Specifically about the word\u00a0<em>Virus<\/em>, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/der-duden-the-cornerstone-of-german-spelling\/\">Duden<\/a>\u00a0even wrote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.duden.de\/sprachwissen\/sprachratgeber\/der-oder-das-Virus\">article<\/a> about it, admitting:<\/p>\n<p><em>Ein Virus ist nicht nur in medizinischer, sondern auch in sprachlicher Hinsicht ein Verwandlungsk\u00fcnstler.\u00a0<\/em>(A virus is not only from a medicinal, but also from a linguistic perspective a &#8220;quick-change artist&#8221;.)<\/p>\n<p>The explanation given is that the\u00a0<em>fachsprachlicher\u00a0<\/em>(technical) term\u00a0<em>Virus\u00a0<\/em>came from Latin, and kept its neuter origin, and so was brought into German as\u00a0<em>das<\/em>. However, <strong>most words ending on\u00a0<em>-us\u00a0<\/em>are\u00a0<em>maskulin\u00a0<\/em>(masculine)<\/strong>, and so\u00a0<em>der Virus\u00a0<\/em>became a thing, too. And today, both\u00a0<em>Artikel\u00a0<\/em>are correct.<\/p>\n<p>There are some more like this. Among German\u00a0<em>Substantive<\/em> (substantives), 1.4% take on\u00a0<em>zwei Artikel<\/em>, though one of them is often\u00a0<em>selten\u00a0<\/em>(rare),\u00a0<em>regional begrenzt\u00a0<\/em>(regionally limited) or <em>Fachsprache<\/em> (technical language, jargon). Within these 1.4%, two out of three times\u00a0the combination is masculine\/neuter, so <em>der\/das Blog<\/em>. However, in almost 18% of cases, the combination is masculine\/feminine &#8211; for example <em>der\/die Salbei\u00a0<\/em>(sage). And lastly, in some 14% of\u00a0<em>Substantive<\/em>, it&#8217;s feminine\/neuter, such as\u00a0<em>die\/das Email\u00a0<\/em>(email).<\/p>\n<p>What most of these words have in common is that they were originally\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/german-loanwords-in-english-pt-1\/\"><em>Fremdw\u00f6rter<\/em><\/a> (foreign words) that entered the German language. Mostly, this affects\u00a0<em>Nahrungsmittel\u00a0<\/em>(foods) or (brand) names of certain items that are referred to as their brand. And sometimes, a new\u00a0<em>Artikel <\/em>also comes in from regional variations.\u00a0For example:<\/p>\n<p><em>das\/die Nutella<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>das\/der Ketchup<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>die\/der Butter\u00a0<\/em>(butter &#8211; regional variation here! I, coming from the North, am used to\u00a0<em>die Butter<\/em> and feel very weird when reading\u00a0<em>der Butter\u00a0<\/em>as a <em>Nominativ<\/em>!)<\/p>\n<p>Again, here the association may be that the original language had a certain\u00a0<em>Artikel<\/em> (e.g.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/ritas-home-made-nutella\/\"><em>la nutella\u00a0<\/em>from Italian)<\/a> and the Germans, out of what sounds right, gave it the second\u00a0<em>Artikel<\/em>. Since\u00a0<em>das\u00a0<\/em>is often used for objects and <em>Fremdw\u00f6rter<\/em>, it perhaps sounded right and was thus introduced.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why Not All?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>But guess what &#8211; it gets crazier. There are\u00a0<em>Nomen\u00a0<\/em>that can take every single\u00a0<em>Artikel<\/em>! Such as:<\/p>\n<p><em>der\/die\/das Joghurt<\/em> (yogurt)<\/p>\n<p><em>der\/die\/das Triangel\u00a0<\/em>(triangle)<\/p>\n<p>However, there are\u00a0<strong>only 40\u00a0<em>Substantive<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>that can take all three\u00a0<em>Artikel\u00a0<\/em>&#8211; making up a mere 0.04% of all nouns in German. Even\u00a0<em>Substantive\u00a0<\/em>that don&#8217;t use an\u00a0<em>Artikel\u00a0<\/em>at all are a bigger group with 0.1% &#8211; such as <em>Aids\u00a0<\/em>(AIDS) and\u00a0<em>Allerheiligen <\/em>(All Hallows).<\/p>\n<p>So how can you recognize that such\u00a0<em>Nomen\u00a0<\/em>can have no, two or more <em>Artikel<\/em>? In dictionaries, both\u00a0<em>Geschlechter\u00a0<\/em>(genders) are detoned, such as for the word <em>das\/der Blog\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dict.cc\/deutsch-englisch\/Blog.html\">here<\/a><em>.\u00a0<\/em>The Duden gives you\u00a0<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.duden.de\/rechtschreibung\/Laptop\">Laptop, der oder das<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>to indicate that two articles can be used.<\/p>\n<p><strong>But be careful! Sometimes, a different\u00a0<em>Artikel <\/em>also gives a word a different meaning, with so-called <em>Homonyme <\/em>(homonyms).\u00a0<em>Die Steuer\u00a0<\/em>(the tax) means something else than\u00a0<em>das Steuer\u00a0<\/em>(the steering wheel).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Here are some more examples:<\/p>\n<p><em>der\/das Event\u00a0<\/em>(event)<\/p>\n<p><em>der\/die Appendix\u00a0<\/em>(appendix)<\/p>\n<p><em>der\/die\/das Spam\u00a0<\/em>(spam)<\/p>\n<p><em>die\/das Cola\u00a0<\/em>(cola)<\/p>\n<p><em>der\/das Gummi\u00a0<\/em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">(<\/span>rubber)<\/p>\n<p><em>der\/die Paprika\u00a0<\/em>(bell pepper)<\/p>\n<p><em>der\/das Bonbon\u00a0<\/em>(piece of candy)<\/p>\n<p><em>die\/der Sellerie<\/em> (celery)<\/p>\n<p><em>der\/das Quiz\u00a0<\/em>(quiz)<\/p>\n<p><em>der\/das Liter\u00a0<\/em>(liter)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Does your language have such\u00a0<em>schwankender Artikelgebrauch<\/em>? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"172\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/virus-washing-hands-boy-derdas-coronavirus-350x172.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/virus-washing-hands-boy-derdas-coronavirus-350x172.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/virus-washing-hands-boy-derdas-coronavirus-1024x502.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/virus-washing-hands-boy-derdas-coronavirus-768x376.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/virus-washing-hands-boy-derdas-coronavirus-1536x753.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/virus-washing-hands-boy-derdas-coronavirus-2048x1004.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Willkommen zu Transparent Language! Der Blog f\u00fcr deine Portion Deutsch! Oder&#8230; Das Blog f\u00fcr deine Portion Deutsch? In a recent post, I told you everything you need to know about German\u00a0Artikel\u00a0(articles). But there is something I left out. And that is the strange case where one single\u00a0Nomen\u00a0(noun) can have multiple\u00a0Artikel. Why and how does this&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/nouns-with-multiple-articles\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":11522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[11971,8],"tags":[3106,928,6],"class_list":["post-11520","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar-language","category-language","tag-articles","tag-definite-and-indefinite-articles","tag-grammar"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11520"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11533,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11520\/revisions\/11533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}