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Questions & Answers about Das Glas ist voll.
What does Das mean in this sentence?
Das is the definite article “the” for neuter nouns in the nominative case. In English you’d say “the,” but in German you must match the article to the noun’s gender and case.
Why is the article das and not der or die?
German nouns have three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Glas is a neuter noun, so it takes das in the nominative. Der would be masculine, die would be feminine or plural.
What case is Glas in, and how do you know?
It’s in the nominative case because Glas is the subject of the sentence (it’s “doing” the being). In German, the subject takes nominative, and we see that here with the article das.
Why isn’t voll declined like an attributive adjective (e.g. volles Glas)?
When an adjective comes before a noun (attributive), it must take an ending: ein volles Glas. But here voll is a predicate adjective following the linking verb sein. Predicate adjectives remain in their base (undecorated) form: Das Glas ist voll.
Why do we need the verb ist? Why not just say Das Glas voll?