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I want to say that the stress on the word "Banane" falls on the second 'a'. What's the gender of 'a'?

Die/Der/Das zweite "a" wird im Wort "Banane" betont.

Which one is correct?

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2 Answers 2

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Nominalised single letters are neuter:

das A
das B
das C
das D

However, the letter case of individual letters of a word is not changed:

das a in Land
das b in Abend
das c in Tacitus
das d in Bude

On the other hand, the word „Buchstabe“ is masculine:

der Buchstabe A
der Buchstabe B
der Buchstabe C
der Buchstabe D

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    Additionally note, that digits are typically female (die Drei) and punctuation have no universal rule. (Das Komma aber der Punkt).
    – guidot
    Commented Feb 4, 2020 at 11:34
  • Auch ein schönes Beispiel dafür, dass sich das Geschlecht nicht aus der Oberkategorie ableitet. Commented Feb 4, 2020 at 15:57
  • @guidot ...and you can say "Du Null" even to a male (while you should not) ;-)
    – U. Windl
    Commented Jul 4 at 12:19
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Definitely neutral (as all letters).

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