Die Lehrerin ist streng.

The teacher is strict.

Breakdown of Die Lehrerin ist streng.

• sein: to be
• die Lehrerin: the teacher (female)
• streng: strict

Questions & Answers about Die Lehrerin ist streng.

Why is it die Lehrerin and not der Lehrer?

German marks grammatical gender on nouns:

• Lehrer = male teacher (masculine)
• Lehrerin = female teacher (feminine)

The article must match the noun’s gender in the nominative case:

• der Lehrer = the (male) teacher
• die Lehrerin = the (female) teacher

So in Die Lehrerin ist streng, we are talking about a woman.

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Does die here mean “the” or “she”?

In this sentence, die is the definite article and means “the.”

• Die Lehrerin = the teacher (female)

The pronoun “she” in German is sie, not die:

• Sie ist streng. = She is strict.

So:

• Die Lehrerin ist streng. = The teacher is strict.
• Sie ist streng. = She is strict.

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Why doesn’t streng have an ending, like strenge?