"das" And "dass" - What's The Difference | Your Daily German

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What is the Difference“dass” or “das” – The Difference (With Quiz)

"das" and "dass" both mean "that", but they're not the same at all. "das" is an article, like "the", and "dass" is a conjunction joining sentences. Let's explore!

By: Emanuel| 101 Comments | Updated: January 14, 2026

a cartoon about dass vs das

Hello everyone,

and welcome to our German Word of the Day and this time we have another episode of your new favorite series – What is the Difference. In this series, we talk about German words that learners think are the same, but that are in fact not. And of all the pairs that are not the same, today’s pair is one of “the most not same”-ones. Because today, we’ll talk about the question

das or dass

We’ll explain the difference and see it in practice with a bunch of examples, and then we’ll do a little practice together. If you feel like you got this and you want to jump straight down to the quiz just click here.

But now, let’s let’s jump right into the explanation.

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The difference between the two das(s)-s is a written difference only. So you can’t hear it, and you don’t need to think about it while speaking. That’s great!

But still, it is important to write it correctly because the functions of the two words are entirely different. And if you mix up the two, the readers has to make a mental U-turn at full reading speed as soon as it becomes clear that the das they just read was actually a dass. Seriously… many people have overstretched their Brainus Maximus muscle because of this.

Fortunately, the difference is not too hard to comprehend. The root of the problem is that both words translate to that. Or 2.5 to be precise.

That is used for a lot of things, but they fall into two groups: article or pronoun on one side and conjunction on the other. When that is used as an article or pronoun, its function is to verbally point at stuff. And with the highly linguistic term “stuff” I mean persons, things or informations of any kind. Let’s look at some examples.

I don’t like that bar there. – pointing to the bar
Ich mag diese Bar da nicht.
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Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

Maria is dating Thomas now, did you know that? – pointing to the fact that Maria and Thomas are dating
Maria ist jetzt mit Thomas zusammen, wusstest du das?
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Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

I called the car, that I bought last week, “Enginelina Jolie”.
Ich habe das Auto, das ich letzte Woche gekauft habe, “Enginelina Jolie” genannt.
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Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

Note that all thats have a distinct functions here but in all three sentences, we can replace it with something the, this or which. The meaning might change slightly, but the general idea stays, and the sentence is still correct, because all these words have the same function. And in German, it is the function of das with one s. Now, not every such that will translate to das. It can also be der, dem, die, den, doh! or damn… The one thing it CANNOT be is dass.

Because dass has nothing to do with entities. It refers to nothing and stands for nothing. Actually, it doesn’t really mean anything. Its pure grammatical function. It’s the most basic conjunction there is and all it does is connecting a phrase to another. That doesn’t mean that it’s not important, though. Dass is ranked 29 on the list of the most frequently used words in written German and in spoken it is likely to be even higher.

Er hat gesagt, dass er um 10 anruft.
He said that he will call at 10.
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Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

Es ist klar, dass man Deutsch nicht in 2 Wochen lernen kann.
It is obvious, that you can’t learn German in 2 weeks.
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Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

Ich glaube, dass es morgen regnet.
I think, that it is going to rain today.
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Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

Now, remember the words I mentioned to replace that? The, this or which? Neither of them works here. We would wind up with absolute nonsense. Let’s try it with the last one:

I think the/ that/ which is going to rain.

This is gibberish and it’s really confusing. And that’s about how confusing it is to mix up das and dass.

Now, is there something we can replace this “function”-that with, to check whether we need dass? Well, in terms of meaning, not really. But we can replace it with other subordinating junk… uhm I mean.. conjunctions; like whether, when or if . The meaning won’t be the same but we still have a grammatically correct statement, because all the words have the same grammatical function.

Ich sage dir, dass/wann/ob ich heute komme.
I tell you that/when/if I will come today.
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Practice pronunciation – click once to start recording and again to stop

Now, these replacement tests are great if you have time, but it’s best if you try to develop a feeling for the different functions. It’s quite an important thing in language in general, and really understanding these concepts will help you get the gains you are looking for. That said, let me tell you that even Germans misspell… for example my ex-girlfriend. She’s smart and pretty, but she uses das and dass randomly. And she also breaks hearts. But I digress.

So, let’s recap. We’ve learned that the difference between das and dass is function. Das used to refer or point to stuff, dass is used to connect actions.

“I tell you that that dress sucks.”

The first that connects the actions to think and to suck. We can replace it with why and still have a functioning sentence (with a different meaning, though). The second that refers to dress, and we can replace it with this or the. So how would it be in German? Exactly! The first one will be dass, the second one is das. And here’s the ultimate mnemonic:

das – points at S-tuff.
dass – joins S-entence-S

And that’s it.

Now you should be ready for a …. dassilicious exercises.

Viel Erfolg :)

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“dass” or “das” – The Difference (With Quiz) - Key Questions

What's the basic difference between das and dass?

It's a written difference only, you can't hear it. Das with one s is an article or pronoun that points at people, things or facts. Dass with double s is a conjunction that joins one clause to another.

How can I check which one to use in a sentence?

Try replacing the word. If you can swap it for the/the/this/which (or a German article like der, die, das) it's das. If you can replace it with a subordinating conjunction like ob, wann or wenn, then it's dass. For example: "Ich habe das Auto, das ich gekauft habe" uses das. "Er sagt, dass er kommt" uses dass.

Can you tell them apart when speaking?

Nope. They sound the same in speech, so the distinction only matters when writing. You need to understand the function. Native speakers do make mistakes there as well.

What about sentences that have both das and dass?

Very common. Example from the article: Ich denke, dass das Mädchen, das das Eis isst, später Bauchschmerzen hat. The first that is a conjunction (dass), the others point to the girl and the ice cream (das). Context and function tell you which is which.

Any quick mnemonic to remember which is which?

Yes: das points at S-tuff, dass joins S-entence-S. That double s reminds you it connects sentences.

How bad is it when I mix up 'das' and 'dass'?

It's a clear mistake, but native speakers do it as well. It's a bit like its vs it's or your vs you're. If those bother you, you'd also be bothered by 'das' vs 'dass'.

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