Nur noch in Lesson 5.3

I have a question about something in Level One Lesson 5.3.  The sentence

Wir haben diese leider nur noch in Größe 36.

is translated as

Unfortunately, we only have this one left, in size 36.

In other words:  "We only have this ONE; it is size 36.

But wouldn't the German sentence be more precisely translated as "Unfortunately, we only have these/this in size 36"?  It's a small distinction, but this implies there might be several blouses left, but they're all size 36, instead of we only have ONE blouse left (which happens to be size 36).

Thanks.

Guten Tag RobertD50,

Thank you for your question!

Whether the demonstrative pronoun diese is translated as "this (one)" or "these" depends on if it is in its singular or plural form as well as the context.
It is declined as follows:

Nominative
Masculine: dieser
Feminine: diese
Neuter: dieses
Plural: diese

Accusative
Masculine: diesen
Feminine: diese
Neuter: dieses
Plural: diese

As you can see, diese appears a lot here. When you are looking at the context, Nik is saying "Ich mag diese (accusative, feminine, singular) hier." - "I like this one here." which implies they are talking about just one blouse. 

Paul then goes on in saying "Wir haben diese (accusative, feminine, singular) leider nur noch in Größe 36." - "Unfortunately, we only have this one left, in size 36.“

Lesson 7.5 ‘Talking About This and That’ covers this topic in more detail. It might be helpful to you to take a look at it too: https://members.rocketlanguages.com/members/german/lessons/4724/7-5-talking-about-this-and-that

I hope this was helpful!

Grüße
Julia

I guess in my mind "nur noch in Größe 36" feels like "only left in size 36," so the sentence becomes "Unfortunately, we only have this/these left in size 36."  If I were trying to say "Unfortunately, we only have this one left, in size 36," I think I would've said "Wir haben leider nur noch diese, in Größe 36."  I'll review the lesson you mentioned.  In the meantime, how would you say "Unfortunately, we only have this/these left in size 36"?

 

Hallo RobertD50,

I understand your question. You are right, "Wir haben diese leider nur noch in Größe 36." and "Wir haben leider nur noch diese, in Größe 36." are slightly different but they can both be translated as "Unfortunately, we only have these/this (one) left, in size 36." as diese can be both singular and plural. It also depends on the context of the conversation. 

The translation "Unfortunately, we only have this one left, in size 36." doesn't necessarily  imply that there is just one blouse left. It could mean they have several but they are just talking about this one specific style. 

I hope this answers your question.

Grüße
Julia