Breakdown of Geh durch das Tor und dann durch die Gasse!
und
and
gehen
to go
dann
then
durch
through
das Tor
the gate
die Gasse
the alley
Questions & Answers about Geh durch das Tor und dann durch die Gasse!
Why don't the articles change after durch in this sentence?
The preposition durch always requires the accusative case. However, only masculine articles change in the accusative (from der to den). Since Tor is neuter (das) and Gasse is feminine (die), their articles look exactly the same as they do in their basic dictionary forms!
Why does the sentence start with Geh instead of Gehst du?
Geh is an imperative, which is the form used to give a command or instruction. Because the speaker is telling one person informally to do something, they use the du form of the verb gehen, but drop both the -st ending and the pronoun du.
Is it possible to combine durch and das here?
Yes! You will very often hear and read durchs Tor. German commonly merges certain prepositions with the neuter article das to make sentences flow faster, especially in everyday speech. Note that you cannot do this with die, so durch die Gasse must stay as three separate words.
What exactly is a Gasse compared to a Straße?
While die Straße is a general street or road, die Gasse specifically means a narrow street, alley, or lane. You will often see this word used for the small, pedestrian-only paths in historical European city centers.
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