Breakdown of Der neue Rock hängt an der Wand, aber ich trage heute lieber eine Hose.
neu
new
ich
I
heute
today
aber
but
lieber
rather
tragen
to wear
an
on
die Wand
the wall
hängen
to hang
der Rock
the skirt
die Hose
the trousers
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Questions & Answers about Der neue Rock hängt an der Wand, aber ich trage heute lieber eine Hose.
What does Rock mean in this sentence? It looks like the English rock (“stone”)
In German, Rock actually means skirt, not stone. It’s a false friend borrowed from English/French. If you want to say “rock” as in a stone, you’d use der Stein or der Felsen. And remember: all German nouns are capitalized, so Rock always starts with a capital letter.
Why is Rock used with the article der? I thought skirts were feminine.
German noun genders don’t always match natural gender. Rock (skirt) is grammatically masculine, so you use der in the nominative. It’s best to learn each noun together with its article: der Rock.
Why is the adjective neu written as neue in der neue Rock?
After a definite article like der, adjectives take the weak (n-ending) declension. Since der already signals masculine singular nominative, neu simply adds -e: der neue Rock.
Why do we say hängt an der Wand and not legt an der Wand or something else?
Hängen describes something that’s hanging or suspended. Legen would mean you lay something down flat. A skirt usually hangs on a hook or hanger, so hängen is the correct verb.
Why is an der Wand in the dative case instead of accusative?
With two-way prepositions like an, you use the dative to express location (answering Wo? – Where?). Here the skirt is stationary, so it’s an der Wand. If you moved the skirt toward the wall, you’d use the accusative (an die Wand).
What does lieber mean in ich trage heute lieber eine Hose? Why not just ich trage heute eine Hose?
Lieber means rather or prefer to. Ich trage heute lieber eine Hose literally means I’d rather wear pants today. Without lieber, you’re just stating a fact: I’m wearing pants today.
Why is Hose singular (eine Hose)? In English we say “pants,” plural.
In German, Hose (trousers/pants) is grammatically singular. When referring to one pair of trousers, you use die Hose for “the pants” and eine Hose for “a pair of pants.”
What case is eine Hose and why?
Here eine Hose is the direct object of tragen (to wear), so it takes the accusative case. Hose is feminine, and its accusative form of the indefinite article is still eine.
Why doesn’t aber (but) change the word order in the second clause?
Aber is a coordinating conjunction. It simply links two main clauses and leaves each clause in normal word order (Subject-Verb-…):
Der neue Rock hängt an der Wand, aber ich trage heute lieber eine Hose.