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Articles in the German Language

There are two types of articles in German: definite articles (specific, like "the" in English) and indefinite articles (non-specific, like "a" or "an").

Definite Articles (Bestimmte Artikel)

The article changes depending on the gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), number (singular or plural), and grammatical case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) of the noun it modifies.

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	der	die	das	die
Accusative	den	die	das	die
Dative	dem	der	dem	den
Genitive	des	der	des	der

• Nominative case: Used when the noun is the subject of the sentence (who or what is doing the action).
  • Der Mann liest. (The man reads.)
• Accusative case: Used when the noun is the direct object of the sentence (receiving the action).
  • Ich sehe den Mann. (I see the man.)
• Dative case: Used for the indirect object of the sentence (to or for whom something is done).
  • Ich gebe dem Mann das Buch. (I give the man the book.)
• Genitive case: Shows possession or relationship.
  • Das ist das Buch des Mannes. (That is the man’s book.)

Indefinite Articles (Unbestimmte Artikel)

Like the definite articles, indefinite articles also change based on gender, case, and number. However, indefinite articles are only used for singular nouns in German, and there is no plural form of the indefinite article.

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	ein	eine	ein
Accusative	einen	eine	ein
Dative	einem	einer	einem
Genitive	eines	einer	eines

• Nominative case: Ein Mann liest. (A man reads.)
• Accusative case: Ich sehe einen Mann. (I see a man.)
• Dative case: Ich gebe einem Mann das Buch. (I give a man the book.)
• Genitive case: Das ist das Buch eines Mannes. (That is a man’s book.)

Negation with Articles: "kein"

When you want to negate a noun in German, you use the word "kein" (no or not any) instead of "ein." The word "kein" is declined similarly to the indefinite articles:

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	kein	keine	kein	keine
Accusative	keinen	keine	kein	keine
Dative	keinem	keiner	keinem	keinen
Genitive	keines	keiner	keines	keiner

Examples:

• Ich habe keinen Hund. (I don’t have a dog.)
• Wir haben keine Zeit. (We don’t have time.)

Definite vs Indefinite Articles: When to Use

• Definite articles (der, die, das): Use when referring to something specific or already known to the speaker and listener.
• Indefinite articles (ein, eine): Use when referring to something non-specific or unknown.

Plurals and Gender-Neutral Nouns

For plural nouns in German, the definite article is always "die" regardless of the gender of the singular form. There is no indefinite article for plural nouns; you simply omit the article.

• Die Hunde sind laut. (The dogs are loud.)
• Hunde sind laut. (Dogs are loud.)