Breakdown of Das neue Abo gilt ab dem ersten Januar.
neu
new
der Januar
January
erste
first (adjective)
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
ab
from / starting at
das Abo
the subscription
gelten
to be valid / to apply
Questions & Answers about Das neue Abo gilt ab dem ersten Januar.
Why is "Januar" preceded by the dative article "dem"?
The preposition ab (starting from) always requires the dative case. Since all months in German, including Januar, are masculine, the dative article is dem.
Why does the word for "first" end in "-en" (ersten)?
In German, ordinal numbers like "first" act like adjectives. Because it comes after the dative article dem, it needs the dative adjective ending, which is always -en.
What verb does gilt come from?
It comes from gelten, which means "to be valid" or "to count". It is an irregular verb that changes its stem vowel from "e" to "i" in the "he/she/it" form, which is why it becomes gilt here.
Is Abo a complete word or an abbreviation?
Abo is the very common short form of das Abonnement (the subscription). Just like the full word, the abbreviation is neuter, which is why it uses Das in this sentence.
Why is the ending on neue just "-e" and not "-es"?
Since we already have the definite article Das showing that the noun is neuter and in the subject position (nominative case), the adjective just takes the basic -e ending.
Learn Das neue Abo gilt ab dem ersten Januar 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