die
Last
🏋️♀️ What exactly does "die Last" mean?
The German noun die Last (feminine) has several meanings:
- Physical weight/load: Something heavy that is carried or transported. Example: Die Last auf dem LKW war zu schwer. (The load on the truck was too heavy.)
- Figurative burden: A responsibility, worry, or problem that is burdensome. Example: Die Sorge um ihre Familie war eine schwere Last für sie. (The worry about her family was a heavy burden for her.)
- Financial burden/debt: Debts or financial obligations. Example: Die Last der Hypothek drückte auf das Budget. (The burden of the mortgage weighed on the budget.)
- Legal term (less common): An encumbrance on a piece of property (Grundlast).
⚠️ Be careful not to confuse die Last with die Lust (desire, pleasure) – they sound similar but mean the opposite!
🧐 Grammar of "die Last" in Detail
Die Last is a feminine noun. Here is its declension:
| Case | Article | Noun |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | die | Last |
| Genitive | der | Last |
| Dative | der | Last |
| Accusative | die | Last |
| Case | Article | Noun |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | die | Lasten |
| Genitive | der | Lasten |
| Dative | den | Lasten |
| Accusative | die | Lasten |
Example Sentences
- Der Esel trug eine schwere Last bergauf. (The donkey carried a heavy load uphill. - Accusative Singular)
- Sie fühlte sich von der Last der Verantwortung erdrückt. (She felt crushed by the burden of responsibility. - Dative Singular)
- Die Arbeiter verteilten die Lasten gleichmäßig. (The workers distributed the loads evenly. - Accusative Plural)
- Trotz der vielen Lasten blieb er optimistisch. (Despite the many burdens, he remained optimistic. - Genitive Plural - often also with 'von + Dativ': von den vielen Lasten)
💡 How to Use "die Last" Correctly
Die Last is frequently used in various contexts:
- In everyday life: When carrying heavy shopping bags, you might refer to them as a Last. "Hilf mir mal, die Last ist zu schwer." ("Help me, the load is too heavy.")
- In work (transport): Describing the weight of goods. "Die maximale Last für diesen Kran beträgt 5 Tonnen." ("The maximum load for this crane is 5 tons.")
- Figuratively: Very common for psychological or emotional burdens. "Er trug die Last des Geheimnisses allein." ("He carried the burden of the secret alone.")
- In finance: For debts or obligations. "Die hohen Zinsen wurden zur Last." ("The high interest rates became a burden.")
Common Idioms:
- jemandem zur Last fallen: to become a burden to someone. "Ich möchte meinen Kindern nicht zur Last fallen." ("I don't want to be a burden to my children.")
- eine Last von den Schultern nehmen: to take a load off someone's shoulders, to relieve someone of a problem. "Danke, dass du mir diese Last von den Schultern genommen hast." ("Thank you for taking this burden off my shoulders.")
- sein Kreuz / seine Last tragen: to bear one's cross / carry one's burden (to endure one's fate or difficulties).
Compared to "Gewicht" (purely physical weight) or "Belastung" (can also mean stress), "Last" often emphasizes the heavy, oppressive quality, both physically and mentally.
🧠 Mnemonics for "die Last"
Here are a few memory aids:
- For the article 'die': Think of 'the' heavy burden that could make you 'die' (sound association, albeit morbid!). Or, associate die (feminine) with common (though stereotypical) ideas of women carrying many Lasten (burdens, tasks). Die Frau, die Last.
- For the meaning (burden): Last sounds a bit like the English word 'last'. Imagine 'the last straw' is a heavy Last (burden) that breaks the camel's back.
- For the meaning (weight/load): Think of something so heavy, it's the last thing you want to lift. That's a Last.
It's the last thing you want to carry - a heavy Last (and it's die Last).
🔄 Synonyms & Antonyms for "Last"
Synonyms (similar meaning):
- Bürde: Often used for figurative, moral, or emotional burdens.
- Gewicht: Primarily for physical weight, but also figurative (e.g., das Gewicht der Verantwortung - the weight of responsibility).
- Belastung: Can be physical, psychological, or financial; emphasizes pressure or stress.
- Fracht: Specifically for transported goods (freight, cargo).
- Hypothek (fig.): For a heavy (often financial) obligation from the past (like a figurative mortgage).
Antonyms (opposite meaning):
- Entlastung: Relief (from a burden).
- Leichtigkeit: Lightness, ease; absence of weight or worry.
- Hilfe: Help, assistance that can reduce a burden.
- Vorteil: Advantage, benefit (something positive instead of burdensome).
- Freude / Lust: Joy / Pleasure (emotional opposites).
⚠️ Similar but Misleading Words:
😂 A Little Joke about "Last"
DE: Fragt der Lehrer: "Fritzchen, kannst du mir ein Beispiel für eine schwere Last nennen?" Fritzchen: "Ja, Herr Lehrer: die Hausaufgaben!"
EN: The teacher asks: "Fritzchen, can you give me an example of a heavy load/burden (eine schwere Last)?" Fritzchen: "Yes, teacher: homework!"
📜 Poem about "die Last"
DE:
Die Last, die drückt, die Schulter beugt,
Mal Stein, mal Sorge, tief erzeugt.
Mal sichtbar schwer, mal still im Geist,
Manch einer trägt sie, unbeweist.
Doch jede Last, wie schwer sie sei,
Geht irgendwann auch mal vorbei.
Ein Schritt, ein Wort, ein Sonnenstrahl,
Nimmt ihr Gewicht, egal die Zahl.
EN Translation:
The burden (Last) that presses, bends the shoulder low,
Sometimes stone, sometimes worry, deeply sown.
Sometimes visibly heavy, sometimes quiet in the mind,
Many carry it, of an unproven kind.
But every burden (Last), however great its weight,
Will eventually pass, sealing its fate.
A step, a word, a sunbeam's ray,
Takes its weight, whatever the day.
❓ Riddle: What am I?
DE:
Ich kann auf Schultern liegen, schwer wie Blei,
Doch bin ich oft unsichtbar dabei.
Ich kann ein LKW voll tragen,
Oder dich im Herzen plagen.
Manchmal will man mich loswerden schnell,
Manchmal trägt man mich zur Stell'.
Was bin ich?
EN:
I can lie on shoulders, heavy as lead,
Yet often I'm invisibly spread.
I can fill a truck right to the top,
Or trouble your heart without a stop.
Sometimes you want to get rid of me fast,
Sometimes you carry me, built to last.
What am I? ... Die Last (the load / the burden)
🧩 Additional Info about "Last"
Compound Words (Wortzusammensetzungen):
Die Last is part of many compound words, often specifying its meaning:
- Lastkraftwagen (LKW): Truck / HGV (vehicle for transporting loads).
- Schuldenlast: The burden of debt.
- Arbeitslast: Workload.
- Beweislast: Burden of proof (the obligation to prove something in a legal proceeding).
- Grundlast: An encumbrance on property (legal).
- Dauerlast: Continuous load (e.g., in structural engineering).
Verb:
The related verb is lasten:
- etwas lastet auf jemandem/etwas (Dat.): something weighs heavily on someone/something; it constitutes a burden.
Example: Die Verantwortung lastet schwer auf ihm. (The responsibility weighs heavily on him.) - jemandem etwas zur Last legen: to blame someone for something; to charge someone with something.
📝 Summary: is it der, die or das Last?
The German word Last is feminine. The correct article is die Last. It means load, weight, or burden.