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Der, die or das Bakterie?

die Bakterie

Gender
feminine
English
bacterium
Plural
die Bakterien

Why is it die Bakterie?

German nouns ending in -ie are almost always feminine, so it is die Bakterie. The same pattern gives you die Familie, die Linie, die Theorie.

Example sentences

Bakterie in the four cases

The article changes with the case. The highlighted column shows the forms to use with Bakterie: definite article first, then the indefinite article.

MasculineFeminineNeuterPlural
Nominativeder / eindie / einedas / eindie
Accusativeden / einendie / einedas / eindie
Dativedem / einemder / einerdem / einemden
Genitivedes / einesder / einerdes / einesder

Bakterie is one of about 1,700 common nouns in the free Der-Die-Das trainer. Short daily rounds with spaced repetition make the article stick.

Practice der, die, das

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