Diese Geschichte ist erfunden.

to be

Breakdown of Diese Geschichte ist erfunden.

• diese: this
• die Geschichte: the story
• erfunden: made up

Questions & Answers about Diese Geschichte ist erfunden.

Why is it diese Geschichte and not die Geschichte?

Both are possible, but they feel slightly different:

• die Geschichte ist erfunden = the story is made up (neutral, just stating a fact)
• diese Geschichte ist erfunden = this story is made up (pointing at a specific story, often with a bit more emphasis: “this one (here) is made up”)

Diese is a demonstrative determiner, like this/that, and draws attention to the specific story you’re talking about, maybe contrasting it with others.

Why is it diese and not dieser or dieses?

Because of gender, number, and case:

• Geschichte is feminine.
• It’s singular.
• In this sentence, it is the subject → nominative case.

So you need:
diese (feminine nominative singular) + Geschichte

The relevant forms of dies- in the nominative are:

• masculine: dieser Mann
• feminine: diese Geschichte
• neuter: dieses Buch
• plural: diese Geschichten

What gender is Geschichte, and how can I tell?