Breakdown of Das Geschlecht spielt bei dieser Stelle keine Rolle.
kein
no, not any
dieser
this / that (fem.: diese, neut.: dieses)
bei
at, near, with
die Stelle
the position (job)
eine Rolle spielen
to matter, to play a part
das Geschlecht
the gender, the sex
Questions & Answers about Das Geschlecht spielt bei dieser Stelle keine Rolle.
Does Geschlecht mean biological gender or grammatical gender?
It can mean both! Depending on the context, das Geschlecht refers to a person's biological sex or gender, or to the grammatical gender of a noun (masculine, feminine, neuter). In this sentence about a job opening (Stelle), it clearly refers to a person's gender.
Is eine Rolle spielen used the same way as "to play a role" in English?
Yes, it works exactly the same way and is a very common phrase. It translates to "to matter" or "to be relevant." If you want to say "That doesn't matter," you can simply say Das spielt keine Rolle.
Why do we use keine instead of nicht to negate this sentence?
The phrase is based on the idiom eine Rolle spielen (to play a role). Because Rolle is a noun that would take the indefinite article eine in the positive sense, you must negate it with keine (literally: "it plays no role"). You cannot say spielt nicht eine Rolle.
Why is the preposition bei used in bei dieser Stelle?
When talking about a job, a specific position, or a company, German frequently uses bei. Here, bei dieser Stelle translates nicely to "for this position" or "at this job." Since bei always requires the dative case, the feminine noun die Stelle changes its demonstrative article to dieser.
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