Query on lesson 3.3

Query on lesson 3.3 Der is used for Strassenbahn “Ich möchte so gerne mit __der__ Strassenbahn fahren. Geht das?” But this is a feminine word, shouldn’t it be a 'Die' word, Or have I missed something again? (As usual) :?

Hi there, yes you are right, "Strassenbahn" is a feminine word and therefore uses the article "die". However you use different cases in German and depending on which case you use the article can change. Here you use the dative and therefore you use the article "der". I would like to go by train. Ich möchte mit der Strassenbahn fahren - you use the questions "with whom or what?" (mit wem oder was?) to detect the dative in a sentence. Another situation where articles change frequently is when nouns are used in the plural. For example you say "der Mann" _the man, but in the plural you say "die Männer". I hope that sheds some light on it.