die · Feminine (Femininum)A1Feminine DeclensionTime & Calendar

die Zeit

time / era

Nominative Sg.die Zeit

Genitive Sg.der Zeit

Nominative Plural

die Zeiten

Dative Pluralden Zeiten

Gender / Plural CueLexical gender — memorize together with its article

Full 4-Case Declension Table

Switch determiner types to inspect how articles and noun endings change together.

Definite (der / die / das): Used for specific, already known, or general-category nouns.

Case (Fall)	Question	Singular	Plural
Nominative Nominativ (Werfall)	Wer oder was?	die Zeit	die Zeiten
Accusative Akkusativ (Wenfall)	Wen oder was?	die Zeit	die Zeiten
Dative Dativ (Wemfall)	Wem?	der Zeit	den Zeiten
Genitive Genitiv (Wesfall)	Wessen?	der Zeit	der Zeiten

Indefinite (ein / eine): Used when introducing a countable singular noun; has no plural article in German.

Case (Fall)	Question	Singular	Plural
Nominative Nominativ (Werfall)	Wer oder was?	eine Zeit	Zeiten
Accusative Akkusativ (Wenfall)	Wen oder was?	eine Zeit	Zeiten
Dative Dativ (Wemfall)	Wem?	einer Zeit	Zeiten
Genitive Genitiv (Wesfall)	Wessen?	einer Zeit	Zeiten

Negative (kein / keine): Negates nouns with or without an indefinite article; follows ein-words in singular and die in plural.

Case (Fall)	Question	Singular	Plural
Nominative Nominativ (Werfall)	Wer oder was?	keine Zeit	keine Zeiten
Accusative Akkusativ (Wenfall)	Wen oder was?	keine Zeit	keine Zeiten
Dative Dativ (Wemfall)	Wem?	keiner Zeit	keinen Zeiten
Genitive Genitiv (Wesfall)	Wessen?	keiner Zeit	keiner Zeiten

Possessive (mein / dein / …): Uses ein-word endings in singular and definite-like endings in plural (mein/dein/sein/ihr/unser/euer/Ihr).

Case (Fall)	Question	Singular	Plural
Nominative Nominativ (Werfall)	Wer oder was?	meine Zeit	meine Zeiten
Accusative Akkusativ (Wenfall)	Wen oder was?	meine Zeit	meine Zeiten
Dative Dativ (Wemfall)	Wem?	meiner Zeit	meinen Zeiten
Genitive Genitiv (Wesfall)	Wessen?	meiner Zeit	meiner Zeiten

Why These Endings Work

All feminine (die) nouns stay completely unchanged in the singular across Nominative, Accusative, Dative, and Genitive.

Feminine nouns never change their own ending in the singular across all four cases.
Plural "Zeiten" already ends in -n or -s, so Dative plural stays Zeiten.

Pattern summary: Only the article changes in singular (die / die / der / der); plural takes -n in Dative unless ending in -n or -s.

Example Sentences in Context

Accusative

Hast du heute etwas Zeit für mich?

Do you have some time for me today?

Genitive

Im Laufe der Zeit wird das Sprechen leichter.

Over time, speaking gets easier.

Interactive Tools & Related Guides

Check "Zeit" in Der/Die/Das Checker Analyze in Compound Deconstructor Inspect Example in Sentence Analyzer

German Gender & ArticlesPredict der, die, das with high-frequency endings The Four German CasesNominative, Accusative, Dative, and Genitive roles Noun Plurals & Dative -nPlural patterns and the Dative plural -n rule Dative Case GuideIndirect objects, prepositions, and der + feminine nouns

FAQs: die Zeit

Is "Zeit" der, die, or das in German?

"Zeit" takes the feminine definite article "die" (die Zeit). Gender cue: Lexical gender — memorize together with its article.

What is the plural and Dative plural of "die Zeit"?

The Nominative plural of die Zeit is "die Zeiten" (pattern: -en). In the Dative plural it becomes "den Zeiten".

How does "die Zeit" change in the Genitive, Accusative, and Dative?

As a feminine noun, "Zeit" keeps the exact same stem in all four singular cases; only the article changes (die Zeit / die Zeit / der Zeit / der Zeit).