Articles in German. Declension of articles in German Declension table of articles

One of the two types of German articles (art.) is indefinite (the second is definite). B refer to function words that are never used independently, but are used only in pairs with nouns (nouns). Nouns, in turn, in some cases can easily do without articles. The most important function of German art. is an expression of the grammatical categories of a name - gender, cases and numbers.

(non-op. art.) correspond to the three available genders: eine (feminine), ein (male and neuter), in the plural, the indefinite article corresponds to the zero art., that is, it is simply omitted.

Neop. art.: declination

	Singular - Singular			Plural number - Plural
Case \ gender	medium - Neutrum	male - Maskulinum	female - Feminine
Translation	shore	cost, size	sea ​​coast
Nominative	ein Ufer	ein Wert	eine Kuste	Ufer,Werte,Küsten
Genitiv	eines Ufers	eines Wertes	einer Küste	Ufer,Werte,Küsten
Dativ	einem Ufer	einem Wert	einer Küste	Ufern,Werten,Küsten
Akkusativ	ein Ufer	einen Wert	eine Kuste	Ufer,Werte,Küsten

The choice falls on neop. art. in German, when the following situations arise in speech:

• any object, person, phenomenon, etc. mentioned for the first time, is unfamiliar to speakers;
• noun used within a comparative design;
• the sentence uses the verbs brauchen, haben or the phrase es gibt; if the verb brauchen is followed by nouns denoting abstract concepts or feelings, unop. art. falls;
• used noun means any object, person, phenomenon, etc.;
• the conversation is about one object, person, etc. from a series, a series of similar ones (for example, a countable noun that is part of a collective concept).

For example:

• Heute hat Emil eine neue Käsesorte gekauft. – Today Emil bought a new type of cheese. (Here we are talking about a product variety previously unknown to the speaker).
• In diesem Rock bist du wie ein Luftballon. - In this skirt you look like a balloon. (Here there is a comparative construction.)
• Wir brauchen eine Putzfrau, die nicht weit von unserem neuen Büro wohnt. – We need a cleaner who lives not far from our new office. (Here, due to the presence of the verb brauchen, a non-verbal art is used, despite the presence of a definition in the form of a participial phrase).
• Meine Schwester braucht Verständnis. – My sister needs understanding. (Here, after the verb brauchen, there is a noun that conveys an abstract concept, as a result of which the non-op. art. is omitted).
• Ihr müsst ein Boot mieten. – You need to rent a boat. (Here we mean any boat).
• Für den Hintergrund darfst du nur eine Farbe aus dem Farbenspektrum wählen. – For the background you can choose only one color from the spectrum. (Here we are talking about choosing a color from seven possible ones).

If a noun used in the singular must be used in the plural, then unop. art. is omitted and the name is used without an article (= with a zero article). Thus, in all of the above situations, nouns will be used in relation to the plural. without art., for example:

• Ihr müsst Boote mieten. – You need to rent boats.
• Heute hat Emil neue Käsesorten gekauft. – Today Emil bought new types of cheese.

Neop. art. in German it can be used in a slightly different situation - within the framework of a speech pattern that serves to distinguish a person, object or phenomenon from a number of similar ones. In this case, neop. art. neuter and masculine genders in Nominativ look different:

• eine Tomate – (one) tomato => eine der Tomaten – one of the tomatoes;
• ein Meer – sea => eines der Meeren – one of the seas;
• ein Teppich – carpet => einer der Teppiche – one of the carpets.

Articles in German have important grammatical functions. They express gender, number, case and the category of definiteness and indeterminacy of the noun they precede.

Types of articles

German language articles divides in three categories: singular der or ein- for the masculine gender, das or ein– for average, die or eine– for feminine and for plural – article die.

Articles der, das, die – certain And ein, eine – uncertain. The category of certainty says that the subject being discussed is isolated from many similar things and is known to the interlocutors, i.e. contextual or unique.

The indefinite article in German carries novelty information about an object in a given context, introduces interlocutors to a new object that has appeared in the field of communication and is replaced in repeated use by a definite article. For example:

Ich sehe da ein Mädchen. Das Mädchen weint.
I see (some) girl there. She's crying.

It is easy to see what shades of information both articles convey: in the first case, the girl has just appeared in our context, we do not know her yet, she is one of many for us, some kind of girl in other words. In the second sentence we already use definite article in German, because we continue to talk about that girl, the specific girl who is standing there, so in the translation we can easily replace the word “das Mädchen” simply with the word “she”, since it is already clear who we are talking about.

German article table

It is very important to understand the logic when the subject is not yet defined and when it already becomes defined, i.e. acquaintances, in each specific situation, otherwise even misunderstandings may arise in communicating with Germans. You cannot use only definite or indefinite articles, both of them carry their own grammatical and semantic functions and loads in the language system. Therefore, for clarity, below German article table to begin with, in the nominative case (who? what?).

Declension of articles in German by case

We use the nominative case when we answer the question “who?”, “what?”, i.e. we call an object, in other words, it itself produces an action, being a subject. If the action is directed at an object, and it acts as the object of this action, then the noun begins to change according to cases. Declension of articles in German is unthinkable without the participation of the article, unlike in Russian, where the very form of the word changes due to the ending or other methods of word formation. Therefore, as “Our Father” you need to know the following tables of declination of articles:

Declension of the definite article

Casus Case	Maskulinum Masculine	Neutrum Neuter gender	Feminine Feminine	Plural Plural
Nominative Wer? Was? Who? What?	der	das	die	die
Genitiv Wessen? Whose?	des	des	der	der
Dativ Wem? Wo? To whom? Where?	dem	dem	der	den
Akkusativ Wen? Was? Whoa? Whom? What? Where?	den	das	die	die

Declension of the indefinite article

Casus Case	Maskulinum Masculine	Neutrum Neuter gender	Feminine Feminine	* Plural Plural
Nominative Wer? Was? Who? What?	ein	ein	eine	keine
Genitiv Wessen? Whose?	eines	eines	einer	keiner
Dativ Wem? Wo? To whom? Where?	einem	einem	einer	keinen
Akkusativ Wen? Was? Whoa? Whom? What? Where?	einen	ein	eine	keine

* Since the indefinite article ein came from the numeral eins= one, then in the plural ein is inappropriate, but according to a similar pattern the negative is declined kein= none, for plural – keine= none.

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Anyone who is just starting to learn German is faced with the problem of articles. It is difficult for Russian speakers to understand this topic, because in our speech we do not use anything similar to articles in German. In this article, we clearly and simply answer the most common questions among beginners on this topic.

There are several types of articles in German: definite, indefinite and zero. Let's consider each of them in order.

Definite article

There are only four of them:

Der - for masculine nouns (der);

Die - for the feminine gender (di);

Das - for the neuter gender (das);

Die - plural (di).

They are used in the following cases:

1. When we know what we are talking about. If this subject has already been discussed before. For example: der Hund (a certain dog already mentioned).
2. To denote phenomena that are one of a kind, for which there are no analogues in nature (die Erde - Earth).
3. To designate many geographical objects: rivers, cities, mountains, seas, oceans, streets and so on (die Alpen - Alps).
4. If our noun is preceded by (der dritte Mann - the third person), or an adjective (der schnellste Mann - the fastest person).

Indefinite article

Ein - masculine and neuter gender (ain);

Eine - feminine gender (aine).

There is no article for the plural in this case.

In German it is used in the following cases:

1. When we talk about objects unfamiliar to us (ein Hund is some kind of dog that we hear about for the first time).
2. After the phrase “es gibt” (literally “there is”), for simplicity, we can draw an analogy with the English “there is” (Es gibt einen Weg - there is a road here).
3. For designations of species or class (Der Löwe ist ein Raubtier - lion - a predatory animal).
4. With the verbs Haben (to have) and Brauchen (to need). For example: “Ich habe eine Arbeit” - I have a job.

Zero article

Not all articles actually exist in the German language. There is such a thing as essentially no article at all. So, we don't write anything before a noun if:

1. It denotes a profession or type of activity (Sie ist Ärztin - she is a doctor).
2. Before many proper names (London ist die Hauptstadt von Großbritannien - London is the capital of Great Britain).
3. To denote the plural (Hier wohnen Menschen - people live here).
4. When designating any chemical substance or material (aus Gold - made of gold).

Almost always in Russian and the corresponding articles in German differ from each other. For example, if our “girl” is feminine, then in German it is neuter – “das Mädchen”. That is, like a “girl”. There is a set of endings that can be used to make it easier to determine the gender of a noun, but for the most part there is only one way out - remember.

Another difficulty is the declension of articles in German. Just as in Russian we don’t say: “I see a girl,” so in German. Each article is declined according to its case. The task is made easier by the fact that there are only four cases: Nominativ (nominative), Genetiv (genitive), Dativ (dative) and Akkusativ (like the accusative). You just need to remember the declination. For your convenience, we provide the table below.

As for indefinite articles, they are declined according to the same principle. For example, the masculine article ein in Akk will be einen, simply adding -en to it. This happens with all other articles.

Each noun in the German language has its own specific grammatical gender, which is often inherent in the noun without any apparent meaning or obvious logic to a Russian person. This makes it necessary to memorize nouns along with their accompanying articles, which, in particular, indicate this gender. In fact, there is no other way. For example, it is not easy for a Russian person to understand why the following nouns have exactly this grammatical gender: child (male) –dasKind (middle), baba (female) –dasWeib (medium), girl, girl (female) –dasMädchen (middle), rabbit (male) –dasKaninchen (medium), milk (medium) -dieMilch (female), Little Red Riding Hood (female) –dasRotkäppchen (middle), Snegurochka (female) –dasSchneewittchen (middle), Cinderella (female) –dasAschenputtel (middle), etc.

See also materials:

However, such complexity is not at all a serious obstacle to learning German. A table of the German articles themselves can be compiled to summarize the patterns of use of articles, but it does not provide any explanation for assigning the corresponding articles to certain nouns. However, there are certain endings for nouns that indicate a specific gender, for example: — heit (always female):dieEntschlossenheit; —keit (always female):dieGerechtigkeit - justice; —ung (always female):dieVereinigung - unification; — or (always male):derStator – stator; — chen (always average):dasBrötchen – bun. Let's first try to summarize in the form of a table the endings of nouns, consistently, in the vast majority of cases, and some of them always, having indications of a specific gender of the noun:

DIE - female – das Feminum
-heit	die Entschiedenheit – determination, firmness	dieGegebenheit – given	die Verlegenheit - confusion, embarrassment
-keit	dieSchwierigkeit – difficulty, complexity	die Leitfähigkeit - conductivity	die Wahrscheinlichkeit - probability
-schaft	dieBereitschaft - readiness	die Mitgliedschaft - membership	die Bürgschaft - guarantee
-(i)tät	die Universität - university	die Kontinuität – non-stop, continuity	die Integrität - integrity
-( t) ion	die Provokation - provocation	die Prostitution - prostitution	die Währungsunion – monetary union
-ung	dieStiftung - institution	die Formulierung- wording	die Beschießung - shelling
-ei	die Mongolei - Mongolia	die Fischerei – fishing	die Räuberei - robbery
-in	die Kinderärztin – female pediatrician	die Rechtsanwältin – female lawyer	die Vertreterin - representative
-ik	die Spezifik - specificity	die Feinmechanik – precision mechanics	die Phonetik - phonetics
-ur	die Presseagentur – press agency	die Abitur – certificate of maturity	die Konjunktur – position, conjuncture
-age	die Courage - courage, courage	die Sabotage - sabotage	die Vernissage - vernissage, opening
-enz/ -anz	die Effizienz - efficiency	die Toleranz – tolerance, tolerance	die Kongruenz – congruence, coincidence
-ie	dieParfümerie – perfume shop, perfumery	die Aristokratie - aristocracy	die Schirmbildfotografie - fluorography
— thek	die Videothek - video library	die Diskothek - disco	die Phonothek - music library
DER - male –das Masculinum
-or	derKurator - curator	der Projektor - projector	der Prosektor - pathologist
-ig	der König - king	der Lindenhonig – linden honey	der Käfig - cell
-ling	der Schmetterling - butterfly	der Säugling – baby, suckling	der Sprössling - cuttings
-(i)smus	der Patriotismus - patriotism	der Pessimismus - pessimism	der Existentialismus - existentialism
-ist	der Traktorist - tractor driver	der Romanist – philologist-novelist	der Opportunist - opportunist
-log(e)	der Astrologe - astrologer	der Radiologe – radiologist	der Kardiologe – cardiologist
-et	der Apologet - defender, apologist	der Leichtathlet - track and field athlete	der Prophet - prophet
-är	der Reaktionär - reactionary	der Veterinär - veterinarian	der Funktionär - party leader
-eur	der Ingenieur - engineer	der Entrepreneur - entrepreneur	der Elektromonteur - electrician
DAS - average –das Neutrum
-chen	dasWeibchen - female	dasAbzeichen - icon	das Eichhörnchen - squirrel
-tum	das Provinzlertum- provincialism	das Wachstum - growth	das Privateigentum - private property
-tel	dasZehntel - one tenth	das Viertel- quarter, quarter	das Sechstel – one sixth part
-um	das Planetarium - planetarium	das Krematorium - crematorium	das Meerwasseraquarium = das Ozeanarium = oceanarium
-lein	das Fischlein - small fish	das Bächlein - stream	das Fräulein - girl
-ma	das Paradigma - paradigm	das Panama - Panama	das Panorama - panorama
-ment	das Testament - will	dasEngagement – ​​(personal, social) commitment	das Divertissement - divertissement, entertainment
-O	das Libretto - libretto	das Imago - subliminal pictures	das Bankkonto – bank account

In addition to the table, it is necessary to mention that all animate nouns that name male persons and animals are also classified as masculine. (entrepreneur -derGeschäftsmann, violinist –derGeiger, wolf –derWolf, wrestler –derRinger, Abkhazian –derAnhase), names of precipitation (frost -derRaureif, blizzard –derSchneesturm), names of minerals (quartz -derQuarz; mica –derGlimmer), cars (derSuzukiderRangeRover,derLincoln), mountain peaks (derArarat,derBroken), calendar dates (Thursday -derDonnerstag, winter –derWinter, February –derFebruary). The feminine gender includes all animate nouns denoting female persons and animals ( female hairdresserdieFriseuse, poetess –dieDichterin, rat -dieRatte, cow -dieKuh), substantivized numerals ( a hundred -dieHundert, four –dieVier), names of river and sea vessels ( dieAurora,dieKrasin,dieJermak). Nouns with the prefix are considered neuter. ge- (gearbox –dasGetriebe, building –dasGehause, noise –dasGeräusch), substantivized verbs in the infinitive form (fried pork -dasSchweinebraten, dancing -dasTanzen, swimming –dasBaden), baby animals (bear cub, bear cub -dasBärenjunge), letter names (dasD,dasOmega). But we are not talking about the unconditionality of all the above-mentioned cases; in most cases there are still some exceptions.

Thus, every noun has an article, or, as it is also called, an accompanying or generic word. Sometimes a noun itself has characteristics of a certain gender (as the table above demonstrates), and sometimes it (its ending, suffix) does not show any gender characteristics. In this case, the gender of the name is conveyed by its article. There are three definite articles in German (indicating a specific object) and three indefinite articles (indicating an object being mentioned for the first time) and one article for all names in the plural. Indefinite articles in the plural correspond to the zero article - that is, the noun stands without an article.

Table of articles of the German language - declension of definite articles

number	Singular (units)
meaning	"bracelet"	"boob"	"discussion"
case/gender	Neutrum	Maskulinum	Feminine
No.	das Armband	der Tölpel	die Erörterung
Gen.	des Armbands	des Tölpels	der Erörterung
Dat.	dem Armband	dem Tölpel	der Erörterung
Akk.	das Armband	den Tölpel	die Erörterung
	Plural (plural)
No.	die Armbander	die Tölpel	die Erörterungen
Gen.	der Armbander	der Tölpel	der Erörterungen
Dat.	den Armbändern	den Tölpeln	der Erörterungen
Akk.	die Armbander	die Tölpel	die Erörterungen

German article table - declension of indefinite articles

number	Singular (units)
meaning	"bracelet"	"boob"	"discussion"
case/gender	Neutrum	Maskulinum	Feminine
No.	ein Armband	ein Tölpel	eine Erörterung
Gen.	eines Armbands	eines Tölpels	einer Erörterung
Dat.	einem Armband	einem Tölpel	einer Erörterung
Akk.	ein Armband	einen Tölpel	eine Erörterung
	Plural (plural)
No.	Armbander	Tölpel	Erörterungen
Gen.	Armbander	Tölpel	Erörterungen
Dat.	Armbändern	Tölpeln	Erörterungen
Akk.	Armbander	Tölpel	Erörterungen

From the table of articles of the German language it is clear that the declension of the indefinite article occurs in the same way as the definite; in this case, only the nominative case of the masculine and neuter gender and the accusative of the neuter are rejected, in which the indefinite articles do not have case endings of the corresponding genders.

Case (Kasus)	masculine (Masculinum)	feminine gender	neuter (Neutrum)	Plural (Plural)
Nominative (Nominative) W er? W as? (Who what?)	D er Vater	Die Mutter	D as Kind
Genitive (Genitiv) W ess en? (Whose?)	D es Vater s	Der Mutter	D es Kinde s
Dative (Dativ) W em? (To whom?)	D em Vater	Der Mutter	D em Kind	D en Bucher n
Accusative (Akkusativ) W en? W as? (Who? What?)	D en Vater	Die Mutter	D as Kind

Lack of article in nouns

The following are used without the article:

Proper names, names of cities, countries and continents:

Schiller ist der bekannte deutsche Dichter. Schiller is a famous German poet. Moscow ist eine große Stadt. Moscow is a big city. Russland liegt in Norden. Russia lies (is located) in the north. Ural ist die Grenze zwischen Europa und Asia. The Urals are the border between Europe and Asia.

The exceptions are the following country names, which are used with an article:

In the names of countries that include their political designation, the article of political designation is used:

Die Gemeinschaft Unabhängiger Staaten. - CIS. Die EU (Europäische Union) - European Union.

Note: If proper names, names of cities, countries and continents are preceded by an adjective or followed by a definition in the genitive case, then these nouns are used with the definite article:

das alte Moskau, das Moskau der Sovjetzeit.

If a noun is preceded by a modifier expressed by a pronoun or cardinal number:

Ich habe deinen Brief bekommen. - I received your letter. Die Reisegruppe besteht aus vierzehn Menschen. - The group of tourists consists of fourteen people.

1. Uncountable concepts without definition, for example: Brot, Geld, Wärme, Luft:

Hast du Geld? - Do you have money? Die Pflanzen fühlen sich bei Wärme wohl. - Plants do well in warm conditions. Die Pflanzen fühlen sich auf derfrischen Luft wohl. - Plants do well in the fresh air.

The definition used here is frisch, therefore, the noun is used with an article.

Names of substances, liquids, objects without definition, for example: Wasser, Benzin, Alkohol, Holz, Glas, Beton:

Ich trinke Kaffee. - I'm drinking coffee. But: Ich trinke den schwarzen Kaffee. - I drink black coffee.

Names of character qualities or feelings without definition:

Ich habe Angst. But: Die grösste Angst habe ich vor Spinnen.

If designations of profession, rank, party affiliation, nation, season, part of the day, etc. are used without definition:

Diese Frau ist Arztin. - This woman is a doctor. Es ist Nacht. - Night. Er studiert Chemie. - He studies chemistry. Sie ist eine gute Verkauferin. - She's a good saleswoman.

Nouns that come after the designation of measure, weight, quantity:

Er kauft ein Kilo Wurst. - He buys a kilogram of sausage. Wir haben 20 Grad Kä lte. – It’s 20 degrees below zero here.

If the adjective in the genitive case is used before a noun:

Wessen Buch liegt auf dem Tisch? - Whose book is on the table? Brigittes Schwester backt leckere Kuchen. - Brigid's sister bakes delicious pies. But, Die Schwester von Brigitte backt leckere Kuchen.

In some stable expressions, proverbs and sayings:

Schach spielen - play chess. Fußball spielen - play football. zu Hause - at home. nach Hause - home. Frieden schlissen. - make peace. Ende gut, alles gut.

Often there is no article after prepositions ohne, ab, auß , bei, nach, vor:

Zu Weihnachten - for Christmas, ohne Hilfe - without help, vor Beginn - before the beginning, nach Ende - after the end.