Questions & Answers about Die Kleidung ist teuer.
The lesson is about demonstrative pronouns, but the translation just says 'The'. Could Die mean 'That' here?
Yes! In everyday spoken German, people often use the standard definite articles (der, die, das) as demonstrative pronouns. By putting a little extra emphasis on Die when speaking, this sentence can mean 'That clothing is expensive.' You could also use Diese Kleidung to be more specific.
Why do we use the singular verb ist here instead of the plural sind? Aren't clothes plural?
In English, we usually talk about 'clothes' as a plural noun. However, the German word Kleidung works exactly like the English word 'clothing' and is a singular noun. That is why it must take the singular verb ist.
Is there a trick to remembering the gender of Kleidung?
Yes! Kleidung is a feminine noun, which is why it uses die. A great rule of thumb for your vocabulary is that almost all German nouns ending in -ung are feminine.
Why doesn't the word teuer have an ending, like teuere?
In German, adjectives only get an extra ending when they are placed right in front of the noun they describe (like die teure Kleidung). Because teuer comes after the verb ist in this sentence, it stays in its basic dictionary form.
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