German Conversation · Level 1
85 words
German word
des
Pronunciation
IPA/dɛs/
Meaning
- articlethe
Example
Des Kindes Spielzeug liegt hier.
The child's toy is here.
More examples
Der Verlauf des Gesprächs war überraschend höflich.
The course of the conversation was surprisingly polite.
Core concept
A grammatical link places a masculine or neuter noun inside another noun phrase as its belonging or relationship marker.
Common phrases
der Klang des Instruments
the sound of the instrument
der Verlauf des Gesprächs
the course of the conversation
die Ursache des Problems
the cause of the problem
Similar words
der: The definite article used before a masculine singular subject noun.
das: The definite article used before a neuter singular noun.
dem: The definite article used before an indirect object in the dative case.
den: The definite article used before a masculine singular direct object.
Definition in German
Bestimmter Artikel im Genitiv Singular für maskuline und neutrale Nomen; zeigt Zugehörigkeit, z. B. das Spielzeug des Kindes.
Word origin
Historically, des is the genitive singular form of the demonstrative-based definite article that yielded the modern forms der and das.
Usage tips
- Modern speech often uses von plus the dative instead of a genitive phrase, while des remains frequent in formal and written German.