Die Artikel (ein Überblick) – Articles (Overview)
Nouns are most often preceded by either a definite article (der, die, das: the) or an indefinite article (ein, eine: a/an). Whether to use a definite or an indefinite article in German is very similar to how you would use them in English:
| Eine Katze ist ein Tier. | A cat is an animal. |
| Die Katze will eine Maus essen – irgendeine Maus!!! | The cat wants to eat a mouse – any mouse!!! |
As in English, there is no indefinite article in German in front of plural nouns because there is no plural form of the indefinite article (i.e., just like in English you couldn’t say “a cats” or “a mice,” you can’t say “ein Katzen” or “ein Mäuse” in German). Thus, you just let the noun stand on its own:
| Katzen haben Ohren. | Cars have ears. |
| Mäuse lieben Käse. | Mice love cheese. |
| definite articles | indefinite articles |
| masculine der Mann (the man) | ein Mann (a man) |
| feminine die Frau (the woman) | eine Frau (a woman) |
| neutral das Kind (the child) | ein Kind (a child) |
| plural die Stühle (the chairs) | — Stühle (chairs) |
No articles
German typically does not use an article with predicate nouns (e.g., he is a prince, his name is Egon, etc.)
| 1. | a personal name | Der Student heißt Michael. | The student is called Michael. |
| 2. | a major holiday | Das Mädchen feiert Ostern mit Schokolade. | The girl celebrates Easter with chocolate. |
| 3. | the name of a country | Die Studentin lebt in Deutschland. | The female student lives in Germany. |
| 4. | a profession | Maria ist Studentin; sie studiert Jura. | Maria is a student; she is studying law. |
| 5. | a nationality | Der Professor ist Deutscher. | The professor is a German (man). |
| 6. | “some” or “any” | Die Mutter kauft Äpfel. | The mother buys (some) apples. |
Exceptions of country names
While most countries are used without definite or indefinite articles, there are a handful of countries and regions, which use an article (this is not an exclusive list):
| die Schweiz (feminine) | die Türkei (feminine) | die Ukraine (feminine) |
| die Lausitz (feminine) | die USA (plural) | die Niederlande (plural) |
