Breakdown of Passt dieser Rock?
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
passen
to fit
der Rock
the skirt
Questions & Answers about Passt dieser Rock?
Why do we use dieser here instead of diese or dieses?
Rock (skirt) is a masculine noun in German (der Rock), and it is the subject of this sentence (nominative case). For masculine subjects, the word for "this" is dieser. If the noun were feminine, you would use diese, and for a neuter noun, you would use dieses.
Wait, does Rock mean "skirt"? It looks just like the English word for a stone!
Exactly! Rock is a "false friend"—a word that looks identical to an English word but has a completely different meaning. In German, der Rock is a piece of clothing. If you want to talk about a literal rock on the ground, you would use der Stein.
Why does the sentence start with the verb passt? Don't you need a word like "does" to ask a question?
In English, we use helper words like "does" or "do" to make questions. German is much simpler: you just take the normal statement Dieser Rock passt (This skirt fits) and swap the verb and the subject to make a yes/no question: Passt dieser Rock?
Why does the verb passen (to fit) end in -t here?
The subject doing the action is dieser Rock (this skirt). Since a skirt counts as an "it" (third-person singular, just like he/she/it), we take the stem of the verb passen and add the standard -t ending to get passt.
Learn Passt dieser Rock and more in German
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free