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Artikel (Articles)

Overview

German articles are words that accompany nouns and show gender (Genus), number (Singular/Plural), and case (Kasus). They are essential for correct German grammar and change form depending on how the noun is used in a sentence.

There are three grammatical genders in German: - der → masculine (Maskulinum) - die → feminine (Femininum) - das → neuter (Neutrum)

Plural nouns use die in the nominative, regardless of gender.

Types of Articles

  • Definite articles (bestimmte Artikel): correspond to “the” in English. See definite.md for details.
  • Indefinite articles (unbestimmte Artikel): correspond to “a/an” in English. See indefinite.md for details.
  • Negative articles (Negationsartikel): correspond to “no/not any” in English. See negative.md for details.
  • No article (Nullartikel): some nouns appear without any article. See no-article.md for details.

Quick Tips

  • Learn articles with the noun: der Tisch, die Lampe, das Haus.
  • Plural definite = always die in nominative and accusative.
  • Masculine nouns are the most irregular (watch den in accusative).
  • Feminine is easiest (same form in nominative/accusative and same in dative/genitive).