German Articles
One of the most common words in any language is “the.” In German, “ the” is not just one word. Rather there are a total of 3, depending on the gender of the noun to which each refers. The short defining word before the noun is really part of the noun. It is called an article.
Define it …. You may not have learned this at school, but in English the word “the” is called a definite article. That is because the word “the” points to a very specific thing. For example, you may tell someone, “I want the book,” assuming that they will bring you the book you have in mind.
Or not! However, if you tell them, “I want a book,” you will get whatever book they choose to hand you! That is because the words “a” or “an” or “some” are indefinite articles and point to a general group of items, things, people or places.
Resources for further reading:
Let’s get it straight: Nouns refer to a person, animal, thing or concept. All nouns in German are either masculine, feminine or neuter. The little word in front of the noun, the article, will tell you the gender. German Articles can be definite (specific) or indefinite (general).
Here are the German definite and indefinite articles:
- der - the (masculine)
- die - the (feminine)
- das - the (neuter)
- ein - a (masculine and neuter)
- eine - a (feminine)
Pronouncing German Articles
Here we go: The definite articles in German are "der", "die" and "das".
Der = masculine article, the, e.g. der Tisch (the table)
Die = feminine article, the, e.g. die Tasse (the cup)
Das = neuter article, the, e.g. das Kind (the child)
Practice Your Pronunciation With Rocket Record
Rocket Record lets you perfect your German pronunciation. Just listen to the native speaker audio and then use the microphone icon to record yourself. Once you’re done, you’ll get a score out of 100 on your pronunciation and can listen to your own audio playback. (Use a headset mic for best results.) Problems? Click here!
der Tisch
the table
die Tasse
the cup
das Kind
the child
The indefinite articles in German are “ein”, “eine” and “ein”.
ein = masculine article, the, e.g. ein Tisch (a table)
eine = feminine article, the, e.g. eine Tasse (a cup)
ein = neuter article, the, e.g. ein Kind (a child)
ein Tisch
a table
eine Tasse
a cup
ein Kind
a child
As mentioned previously, the article (“the”) before a noun in German is not only an integral part of the word, but is also a major clue to the gender of the word. In other words, as you learn new words, you should always be learning them with either a “der” in front, as in “der Tisch”, “the table”, a “die” in front, as in “die Tasse”, “the cup”, or a “das” in front, as in “das Kind”, “the child”. This will help you to understand the concept of gender as you build up your vocabulary.
For example:
Masculine Articles and Nouns
der Himmel
the sky
der Baum
the tree
der Lärm
the noise
Feminine Articles and Nouns
die Freiheit
the freedom
die Sonne
the sun
die Banane
the banana
Neuter Articles and Nouns
das Wasser
the water
das Gemälde
the painting
das Konzert
the concert
The days of the week, months and seasons are all masculine.
(der) Montag
Monday
(der) August
August
der Sommer
the summer
der Winter
the winter
Here are a few recommended German lessons to try next!
- Wanting to create more complete sentences? You need to be able to use the German conjunctions.
- The German consonants are fairly easy to pronounce, you just need to remember the rules!
- Check out this lesson on the German dative.
Bis bald!
Paul Weber: Rocket German
Make It Stick With Rocket Reinforcement
Reinforce your learning from this lesson with the Rocket Reinforcement activities!