Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
Thanks - that makes sense.
The other thing I always struggled with, when I was learning German, was what the "rules" were for using a "ß" instead of "ss". I used to think that "ß" was only used after a long vowel - eg "Straße" (street), but then I came across words like "Schloß" (castle) where the vowel is NOT long. Is there any "rule", or is it simply a matter of learning which words have a "ß" and which don't?
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That may have become a little bit easier with the latest change in writing. Nowadays it's only "Straße" (= after long vowels), and "Schloß" (= short vowel and end of word) has changed into "Schloss" which had the double s in its plural form "Schlösser" anyway. So, for learning it's best to remember the plural forms, too.