Der, die or das Motiv?
das Motiv
- Gender
- neuter
- English
- motive
- Plural
- die Motive
Why is it das Motiv?
No ending or meaning rule gives away the gender of Motiv. Like many everyday German nouns, it has to be learned together with its article: das Motiv.
For the endings that do predict gender, see the Der-Die-Das rules guide.
Example sentences
- Das Motiv des Täters war Geld.The culprit's motive was money.
- Die Polizei sucht nach dem Motiv.The police are looking for the motive.
Motiv in the four cases
The article changes with the case. The highlighted column shows the forms to use with Motiv: definite article first, then the indefinite article.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der / ein | die / eine | das / ein | die |
| Accusative | den / einen | die / eine | das / ein | die |
| Dative | dem / einem | der / einer | dem / einem | den |
| Genitive | des / eines | der / einer | des / eines | der |
Motiv 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.