Both der/das/die and den mean ‘the’ but when are they supposed to be used. Are they interchangeable?

I recently came across a statement on duolingo : Mia, der Stuhl ist da druben, Warum brauchst du den Stuhl.

Since it is translated as ‘the’ in both cases why is Mia, den Stuhl ist da druben, Warum brauchst du der Stuhl wrong

  • webadict@lemmy.world
    2·
    1 year ago

    Wait, is it really true that Genitiv case isn’t used much? What would you do to show possession? Is it just using something like in English (the chair’s leg / der Stuhls Bein vs. the leg of the chair / das Bein des Stuhles). Is it just that it’s a bit formal sounding?

    Apologies if any of that is wrong, I haven’t used German in forever, please correct me.

    • nottheengineer@feddit.de
      3·
      1 year ago

      Yes, it’s basically dead for casual talking, we just use it when we want to sound formal.

      In your example, we’d say “Stuhlbein” or “Das Bein von dem Stuhl”. I don’t know if the latter is correct grammar, but we use it all the time.

      There’s a little saying about Genitiv being replaced by Dativ: “Genitiv ins Wasser, weils Dativ ist”