Lesson 9.8, Die or Der Tankstelle?

Dear Rocket German and fellow German learners. 

In lesson 9.8 both the masculine AND feminine article is used for the word “Tankstelle”. Is this an error on behalf of Rocket German? I've done a Google search, and the correct article is indeed “Die Tankstelle”.

PS. I am experiencing the same issue with “die Ampel” which turns into “der Ampel” in the sentence: "Geradeaus bis zu der Ampel", and “die Karte” turning into “der Karte” when used in a sentence ??? :/

Thank you in advance! :) 

• Philip

HI Philip I

 want an explanation too.  I am fairly sure it has to do with those cases and all the exceptions. In Dative Die becomes der. I am still grappling with those as well as adjective endings. Am beginning to get the cases, but am still grappling with adjectives. There is a good tutor on YouTube.  Learn German with Mister Ferguson and he has excellent lessons on the cases.

Good for revison too. 

Maxie

Hi Philp

The nouns aren't changing gender, they can't do that.

The aricles (der,die,das) change with the case. 

9.11 A case in point shows how der die das changes with the dative case.

The dative case is used for indirect objects and after certain prepositions.

Taking your example "Geradeaus bis zu der Ampel", the preposition “zu” is always followed by the dative case.  One is supposed to know that Ampel is femine so when you see “der” in front of it, it is most likely dative.

Rocket German is weak on grammar explanations.  Maxie's recommendation looks like a good one, but there are lots of others.

I think I need to follow this as well, since I'm a bit confused about the “bis zu der Ampel" construction: I know it's the dative but I thought “zu der” should contract to “zur”. 

Does the “bis” affect it?

Or are they both possible?

Hi Peter

AFIK both zu der and zur are correct, but zu der is usually contracted to zur.

A bit like the difference between haven't and have not in english.

I don't know why they didn't use zur in your example, maybe it was to emphasise the grammar?

Simon

HI Simon

This is not related to this topic, but wondered if you had some suggestions. I get the DW newsletter and find if I can read the text I can fathom quite a lot out and even some of the videos. If it is a topic I know nothing about then I miss a lot as the speaking is fast. Is there any way that one can see the text in a video or slow it down. I enjoy the topics, but find it quite frustrating at times, especially if it is a topic that interests me. My German friend often helps out with Idioms and she speaks high German which is great. 

 Busy preparing for the hordes that will arrive for Christmas. 4 children 2 boyfriends and a total of 3 dogs. Should be fun

Take care

Sharon

Hi all, 

As the others have pointed out, we're dealing with cases here. Each prepostions requires a specific case. The prepositions nach and zu, for example, require the dative case which is why die Ampel becomes der Ampel and der Tankstelle respectively. Auf is a two-way preposition which means it can either take the dative or accusative case. Since there is no movement in “Können Sie es mir bitte auf der Karte zeigen?”, we need the dative case here. 

Hope this helps and don't hesitate if you have any further questions :)

Viele Grüße

Julia

Vielen Dank, Julia,

Just for interest, is Simon's comment regarding zu der and zur correct? (He suggested that either is correct but the lesson used the full form in order to emphasise the grammar.)

I assume that in normal conversation the contraction zur would be used, or am I on the wrong track?

Hallo Peter, 

Yes, both zu der and zur are correct. While in normal, everday conversation zu der is often contracted to zur, it is also perfectly acceptable to use zu der, it just sounds a little more formal. 

Viele Grüße,

Julia