01
der Inder
Indian man
A male person who comes from India or has Indian citizenship.
example
Der neue Programmierer in unserem Team ist ein Inder aus Bangalore.
The new programmer on our team is an Indian man from Bangalore.
der Inder
Indian
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Meanings
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Usage tips
Word family
The word 'der Inder' (Indian man) is derived directly from the country name 'Indien' (India). The feminine form is 'die Inderin' (Indian woman).
EXAMPLE
Mein Kollege kommt aus Indien, er ist Inder.
My colleague comes from India; he is Indian.
Context clue
You can tell whether the person or the restaurant is meant from the verb. Verbs like 'gehen zu' (to go to), 'essen bei' (to eat at), or 'reservieren bei' (to reserve at) almost always point to the restaurant.
EXAMPLE
Ich habe gestern Abend bei einem sehr guten Inder gegessen.
I ate at a very good Indian restaurant yesterday evening.
Colloquial use
The term 'der Inder' (the Indian) for a restaurant is very common, but colloquial. In more formal contexts, you would say 'indisches Restaurant' (Indian restaurant).
EXAMPLE
Lass uns heute Abend zum Inder gehen!
Let's go to the Indian restaurant tonight!
Sentence structure with prepositions
When the restaurant is meant, you use 'zum Inder gehen' (to go to the Indian restaurant; movement, accusative) and 'beim Inder essen/sein' (to eat/be at the Indian restaurant; location, dative).
EXAMPLE
Wir gehen heute zum Inder.
We're going to the Indian restaurant today.
Compare with
Inder vs indisch
Indian
'indisch' and 'der Inder' are both connected to India, but grammatically they are not the same kind of word. 'indisch' is an adjective and describes, for example, food, music, culture, or language from India. 'der Inder' is a noun and means a man from India, or colloquially also an Indian restaurant. Learners may confuse the words because they look similar. A practical rule is: if you are describing something, use 'indisch'. If you mean a male person or, colloquially, a restaurant, use 'der Inder'.
Inder
Mein Kollege ist Inder und spricht zu Hause Hindi.
My colleague is Indian and speaks Hindi at home.
indisch
Nach dem Essen sagt Tom, dass das Gericht sehr indisch gewürzt ist.
After the meal, Tom says that the dish is seasoned in a very Indian style.
In real life
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