German

ein Mädchen

Alternative forms

• Mägdchen (obsolete)

Noun

Mädchen n ‎(genitive Mädchens, plural Mädchen)

1. girl
2. maiden

Usage notes

• Since Mädchen is a grammatically neuter noun, all preceding articles, determiners, and adjectives take neuter forms: ein kleines Mädchen (“a little girl”). This rule is followed throughout all registers of German.
• There is more variation concerning pronouns referring back to Mädchen. These are usually neuter within the same sentence: Das Mädchen, das eben hier war, hat seine Tasche vergessen. – “The girl who has just been here, forgot her purse.” (But feminine ihre would be acceptable in colloquial usage.) It is quite common, however, to use feminine pronouns in following sentences: Siehst du das Mädchen, das da steht? Kennst du die? – “Do you see the girl who [neuter] is standing there? Do you know her [feminine]?” (But neuter es would be acceptable in literary usage.)
• Mädchen is typically used to refer to young women up to the age of 20 (or 25 at most). Past this age it is uncommon (unlike English girl). But in recent years, adult women refer to their clique of friends as Mädels more often, even where Mädchen is the native term for girl and thus Mädel is not otherwise used.

Declension

Synonyms

• Mädel n (colloquial)
• Mädken, Mädle n (regional)

Antonyms

• (by gender) Bub, Bube m (Austrian, Swiss), Junge m, Knabe
• (by age) Frau f, Greisin f

Derived terms