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)

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Grammar to Accompany Deutsch im Blick Copyright © by Rebecca Sibrian and Franziska Borders is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book