Art or Kunst?

a2

English art is German Kunst. German Art means kind, type, manner - the sort of thing, or the way something is done.

die Art

Sort or manner: diese Art von Musik, auf diese Art. In biology also species.

Diese Art von Musik mag ich nicht.I don't like this kind of music.

die Kunst

What English art means: painting, sculpture, music. Related: Künstler, Kunstwerk, Kunstgeschichte.

Sie studiert Kunst in Berlin.She studies art in Berlin.

The mistake

Im Museum sehen wir moderne Art.

Im Museum sehen wir moderne Kunst.

„Art“ in German is the sort of thing, not the artwork. What hangs in a museum is Kunst.

Rule of thumb

Mnemonic: eine Art is a sort. Kunst hangs on the wall.

Learn this with merke.me

Create a free account to practice this with spaced repetition and track your progress.

Start free

Not sure where you stand? Take the 3-minute placement test.

Get the German material

Short emails, only when there is something worth reading: false friends, idioms with their real origin, and the grammar people actually get wrong.

Double opt-in. Unsubscribe in one click, any time.

More comparisons