What is the difference between der, die and das?

In German, there are three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter, and each noun falls into one of these categories. Der, die and das all mean the same thing: THE. But masculine nouns take the 'der' form; feminine nouns take the 'die' form, and neuter nouns take the 'das' form. Here are some examples:der Mann = the man (masculine)die Blume = the flower (feminine)das Fenster = the window (neuter)You will need to learn the gender of each noun as you learn the word itself, but once you do that, you'll always know which form of 'the' to use!