use of "der" in place of "er"

HI! Could you please help me out with a bit of a puzzle? In lesson 3.1 of the first Rocket German course Nik says "Ja, iche sehe ihn. Der ist schnell" Also in lesson 7.1 of More Rocket German Sandra says, "Der hat ein paar so schoene Liebeslieder...." Why in each case was the masculine article "der" used in place of the third person "he"..."er"? Is this commonly interchangeable? Thanks Armani.

the principal behind both are the same and Nik actually explains why this is in 3.1 everything in German is either masculine, feminine, or neuter. the masculine article is used in both because both are masculine words. in 3.1 the sentence "Ja, iche sehe ihn. Der ist schnell" uses ihn because in German you would say i see him because the BMW is masculine and and the second half she says Der ist schnell because it's short for the BMW/Der BMW. if you take a listen at 3.1 at around 7:40 Nik explains just why she does this. in 7.1 it's the same premise except it doesn't actually use "ihn" at all. but it all has to do which the words being masculine, feminine, or neuter. in the grammar guide you'll find a better explaination so you should check it out section 1.3 or you can find a link in the members section in the grammar & culture section part 4 and part 5

I'm sorry, but this doesn't seem to answer the question. I get gender and case. I get that Der in this context is short for Der BMW. However, I've seen so many examples in Rocket German and German stories where Die and Der are used interchangebly with she and he. "Mensch, die is aber braun" is another example. Why die and not sie?

Hey Byron, You can replace "die" with "sie". Both versions "Mensch, die ist aber braun" and "Mensch, sie ist aber braun" are correct and mean the same. "Mensch, die ist aber braun." is a short form of saying "Mensch, die Frau ist aber braun." Hope that helps! Paul

Thanks Paul. That explanation makes sense. I have another question. I recently read a story where the narrator refers to other characters using an article, e.g. Die Stefanie (girl friend), Die Klara (sister), Der Papa (his father), etc. The story was authored over 100 years ago so perhaps this form is outdated. Is it still used and if so what are the special implications,if any, of using the article? thanks, Byron

Hi Byron. I don't know if this is outdated our not, but I have a friend in southern Germany who sometimes refers to his daughter (now a young adult) as "Die Jenny". It reminds me of certain areas of England where family members often refer to each other as "Our Jenny", "Our Robert" etc. Shannon :)

Hi Shannon. That is helpful information. The story I read was written by an Austrian so perhaps that form of reference is more common in southern Germany and Austria. thanks, Byron