Polyglot Dictionary

Mädchen

/ˈmɛːtçən/

das noun A1

der (masc.) die (fem.) das (neut.)

Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.

N Register Neutral Era Current Frequency Core Domain General Tone Neutral

Forms

plural (same form)
die Mädchen

Meaning

  1. girl

    Grammatically neuter (das Mädchen), not feminine — the -chen diminutive ending always makes a noun neuter, whatever it refers to.

    • Das Mädchen liest ein Buch.

      The girl is reading a book.

N Category Person Concreteness Concrete Animacy Animate Countability Countable Scope Individual

Similar words

Fräulein

Close, register — Fräulein is a dated, formal form of address for a young woman; Mädchen is the everyday word for "girl."

Similar in other languages

Portuguese

garota

garota is the Portuguese word for the same thing — both mean "girl."

Portuguese

menina

menina is the Portuguese word for the same thing — both mean "girl."

Practice

1 What does Mädchen mean?

2 Fill the gap: Das ___ liest ein Buch.

3 Which fingerprint chart matches Mädchen?

See also

nouncore-vocabularyfamily

Last updated