Articles and nouns

What you will practice

• Use der, die, and das with masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns.
• Choose ein or eine for the singular.
• Use die for every gender in the plural.

Explanation

Three genders

The definite article points to a particular noun: der Mann, die Frau, das Kind. Gender is a grammar class, not a guess from the English word. Mädchen means “girl,” but the noun is neuter, so the article is das Mädchen. Learn the article together with the noun.

ein and eine

The indefinite article is ein for masculine and neuter, and eine for feminine: ein Mann, ein Kind, eine Frau. In the plural, the definite article is die for every gender: die Männer, die Frauen, die Kinder. There is no plural form of ein. For “no” in the plural, German uses keine.

A useful pattern

Some endings are worth remembering as patterns, not as a rule for every noun. Nouns in -chen and -lein are neuter, as in das Mädchen. Nouns in -ung are feminine, as in die Wohnung. If a noun has neither ending, the article still has to be learned.

Examples

1. der Mannthe man
2. die Frauthe woman
3. das Kindthe child
4. die Kinderthe children
5. ein Mädchena girl

Common mistakes

• das Mann and der Frau do not match the gender of those nouns.
• Do not put eine in front of a plural. eine Kinder is not German.