Die dritte Tür ist grün.

to be

Breakdown of Die dritte Tür ist grün.

• die Tür: the door
• grün: green
• dritte: third

Questions & Answers about Die dritte Tür ist grün.

Why is the article die used here instead of der or das?

Tür is a feminine noun in German. In the nominative singular (the case for the subject of a sentence), the definite article for feminine nouns is die, so you say die Tür.

Why does dritte end with -e?

When you use an ordinal number (first, second, third…) as an adjective before a noun, it takes an adjective ending that agrees with the noun’s gender, case, and number. For a feminine noun (Tür) in the nominative singular with a definite article (die), the weak ending is -e, giving you die dritte Tür.

How would the ending change if Tür were masculine or neuter?

It depends on gender and case:

• Masculine nominative: der dritte Mann (ending -e)
• Neuter nominative: das dritte Kind (ending -e)
• Plural nominative (any gender): die dritten Türen (ending -en)

Why is grün not grüne?