Breakdown of Die Schülerin fragt die Lehrerin nach Hilfe.
die Hilfe
the help
fragen
to ask
nach
for
die Lehrerin
the teacher (female)
Questions & Answers about Die Schülerin fragt die Lehrerin nach Hilfe.
Why do Schülerin and Lehrerin both end in -in?
The ending -in marks the female form of many professions and roles in German.
- Schüler = (male) pupil / student at school
- Schülerin = (female) pupil / student at school
- Lehrer = (male) teacher
- Lehrerin = (female) teacher
So Die Schülerin means the (female) pupil, and die Lehrerin means the (female) teacher.
Why is die used for both die Schülerin and die Lehrerin? Aren’t they in different roles (subject vs object)?
Yes, they have different grammatical roles, but they are both feminine singular nouns.
- In the nominative case (subject), feminine singular uses die:
- die Schülerin (subject)
- In the accusative case (direct object), feminine singular also uses die:
- die Lehrerin (direct object)
So the article die looks the same in nominative and accusative for feminine singular nouns. You know which is which mainly from word order and meaning:
- Die Schülerin (first position, before the verb) = subject
- die Lehrerin (after the verb) = direct object
Which noun is the subject and which is the object in this sentence, and how can I tell?