German articles are used similarly to the English articles, a and the. However, they are declined differently according to the number, gender and case of their nouns.1
Declension
The inflected forms depend on the number, the case and the gender of the corresponding noun. German articles – like adjectives and pronouns – have the same plural forms for all three genders.2
Indefinite article
This article, ein-, is used equivalently to the word a in English. Like its English equivalent (though unlike Spanish), it has no direct form for a plural; in this situation a range of alternatives such as einige (some; several) or manche (some) would be used.1
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ein | eine | ein | - |
| Accusative | einen | eine | ein | - |
| Dative | einem | einer | einem | - |
| Genitive | eines | einer | eines | - |
The same endings are used for the negative indefinite article-like word (kein-), and the adjectival possessive pronouns (alias: possessive adjectives, possessive determiners), mein- (my), dein- (your (singular)), sein- (his), ihr- (her and their), unser- (our), euer/eur- (your (plural)), Ihr- (your if addressing an authority figure, always capitalised).1
Definite article
This table gives endings for the definite article, equivalent to English the.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der | die | das | die |
| Accusative | den | die | das | die |
| Dative | dem | der | dem | den |
| Genitive | des | der | des | der |
The so-called "der words" (Der-Wort) take similar endings. Examples are demonstrative pronouns (dies-, jen-) (this, that), the relative pronoun (welch-) (which), jed- (every), manch- (many), solch- (such).3
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | -er | -e | -es | -e |
| Accusative | -en | -e | -es | -e |
| Dative | -em | -er | -em | -en |
| Genitive | -es | -er | -es | -er |
- This is essentially the same as the indefinite article table, but with the masculine nominative -er, and the neuter nominative and accusative -es.
For further details as to the usage of German cases, see German grammar.
References
References
- Donaldson, Bruce (24 January 2007) [8 January 2006]. "Chapter 5: Articles and Other Determiners". German: An Essential Grammar. Taylor & Francis. doi:10.4324/9780203018583. ISBN 9781134225439. Retrieved 18 May 2025 – via Google Books.
- James Ham, Roscoe; Newton Leonard, Arthur (1908). Brief German Grammar. Ginn & Co. p. 17. Retrieved 18 May 2025 – via Google Books.
- Whittle, Ruth; Klapper, John; Glöckel, Katharina; Dodd, Bill; Eckhard-Black, Christine (March 2013) [1996]. Modern German Grammar: A Practical Guide. Taylor & Francis. 24. Determiners. ISBN 9781136835520. Retrieved 18 May 2025 – via Google Books.