German Articles

If you dont know it yet articles in German change depending on the case used in the sentences.
If youre not familiar with that then please check the German Cases page before proceeding to
this page.

German Definite Articles

The definite articles in German refer to specific persons, objects, ideasetc. and they are : der,
die, das, die (plural) they all mean the expression the in English, der is used for masculine
nouns, die is used for feminine nouns, das is used for neuter nouns, and finally die used also for
plural nouns.

German Definite Article

Masculine der Mann (the man)

Feminine die Frau (the woman)

Neuter das Brot (the bread)

Plural die Mnner (the men), die Frauen (the women), die Brote (the breads)

Well, thats not all; the form we went through above is only for the nominative case. Now lets
have a look at all the rest:

German Definite Articles

 masculin feminin Neuter plural
e e

Nominative case der die Das die the

Accusative case den die Das die the

Dative case dem der Dem den to the

Genitive cases des der Des der of the

Here are some examples:

Nominative: der Mann ist hier (the man is here)

Accusative: Ich gre den Mann (I greet the man)

Dative: Ich gebe dem Mann ein Buch (I give the book to the man)

Genitive: Ich habe das Buch des Mannes (I have the book of the man)

You may have noticed how the definite article changes each time the case changes. So try to
memorize the table above by heart, Im sure its not that hard.

German Indefinite Articles

The indefinite articles in German refer to unspecified persons, objects, ideasetc. and they are:
ein, eine, ein, they all mean the indefinite article a, an in English, ein is used for masculine
nouns, eine is used for feminine nouns, ein is used for neuter nouns, and there is no plural for the
indefinite article.

German Indefinite Article

 Masculine ein Mann (a man)

Feminine eine Frau (the woman)

Neuter ein Brot (a bread)

Again, thats not all; the form we went through above is only for the nominative case. Now lets
have a look at all the rest:

German Indefinite Articles

masculine feminine neuter

Nominative case ein eine ein a, an

Accusative case einen eine ein a, an

Dative case einem einer einem to a, to an

Genitive cases eines einer eines of a, of an

Here are some examples:

Nominative: ein Mann ist hier (a man is here)

Accusative: Ich gre einen Mann (I greet a man)

Dative: Ich gebe einem Mann ein Buch (I give the book to a man)

Genitive: Ich habe das Buch eines Mannes (I have the book of a man)

So the same thing happens to the indefinite article, it changes each time the case changes. So try
to memorize the table above by heart as well. Good luck!