What are the definite and indefinite articles in German?
What are the definite and indefinite articles in German?
German has three words — der, die and das — for the definite article the. Just as English has two indefinite articles — a and an — that you use with singular nouns, German also has two indefinite articles (in the nominative case): ein for masculine- and neuter-gender words and eine for feminine-gender words.
How do you know when to use definite and indefinite articles in German?
The accusative case is used when the noun is the direct object in the sentence. This means it has the verb ‘done to it’. It often comes after the verb. Der Mann hat einen Hund – The man has a dog….Accusative.
| definite article | indefinite article | |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | den | einen |
| feminine | die | eine |
| neuter | das | ein |
| plural | die |
What are definite articles in German?
Updated February 27, 2019. A definite article (der Definitartikel) is that tiny word in English we refer to as “the.” In German, we have three: der, die, das. As in English, they are also placed before the noun (or their modifying adjectives). In German, however, each of the definite articles has a gender.
What are the definite articles in the accusative case German?
Definite Article
| Masculine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der | das |
| Accusative | den | das |
| Dative | dem | dem |
| Genitive | des + s/es | des + s/es |
How do I memorize German articles?
Tips for learning German articles
- Learn nouns with their articles. When you practice or review German nouns, always do so with the correct article.
- When in doubt don’t guess neuter. Only around 20% of German nouns are neuter.
- Practice rather than memorize.
- Learn the rules:
How do German adjectives work?
As in English, German adjectives come BEFORE the noun they describe, but AFTER the verb in the sentence, unless the noun is the subject of the sentence and is written BEFORE the verb. The only time the adjective does not agree with the word it describes is when it comes AFTER the verb.
Is there a rule for German articles?
In German language, there are three definite articles for nouns in singular: der for masculine nouns, die for feminine nouns and das neutral nouns. German native speakers know mostly intuitively what the article of each noun is. However, non-native speakers need to memorize the articles.
When to use definite vs. indefinite articles?
As a general rule, the indefinite article is used when one is introducing a noun, or referring to a generic noun, while the definite article is used when talking about a particular noun.
What is definite article in German?
Definition: Definite articles are used to indicate specific nouns If you are talking about a specific person, animal, place, event, thing, or idea, you use a definite article(the). the genders of German nouns are typically shown by way of an accompanying definite article: der (masculine), die (feminine), or das (neuter).
What are the German articles?
Definition: In German, the articles are the main indicators of grammatical case. Articles are words mostly used before nouns. In German, articles are the key to understand the gender of nouns because they are divided in three genders. Masculine. Feminine.
What is an indefinite article?
Definition of indefinite article. : the word a or an used in English to refer to a person or thing that is not identified or specified In “I gave a book to the boy” the word “a” is an indefinite article and the word “the” is a definite article. also : a word that has a similar use in another language.