Breakdown of Du trägst weder Wolle noch Baumwolle.
du
you (informal singular)
tragen
to carry, to wear
weder
neither
weder ... noch
nor
die Baumwolle
the cotton
die Wolle
the wool
Questions & Answers about Du trägst weder Wolle noch Baumwolle.
How do we use weder ... noch in this sentence?
Weder ... noch means "neither ... nor". Here, it connects two direct objects (Wolle and Baumwolle). Because it is just connecting the objects later in the sentence, the standard word order isn't affected: subject (Du), verb (trägst), then the rest of the sentence.
The lesson mentions inversion with weder ... noch. Why isn't there inversion here?
Inversion only happens if you put weder in the very first position of the sentence for emphasis. If we did that here, the verb would come before the subject: Weder Wolle noch Baumwolle trägst du. Since this sentence starts with the subject (Du), the verb stays in its normal second position.
Why aren't there any articles like die before Wolle and Baumwolle?
Just like in English, German usually drops the article when talking about uncountable materials, fabrics, or substances in a general sense. This is known as the zero article.
What is the literal meaning of Baumwolle?
Baumwolle literally translates to "tree wool" (der Baum + die Wolle). German often builds compound nouns this way to describe new concepts using familiar words.
A quick reminder: why does trägst have an umlaut?
The verb tragen (to wear or carry) is a strong (irregular) verb. Its stem vowel changes from a to ä in the second and third person singular: ich trage, but du trägst and er/sie/es trägt.
Learn Du trägst weder Wolle noch Baumwolle 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