Article declension in German examples. Definite article

I.G. Knyazeva, teacher of the German language MBOU secondary school No. 15 st. Rogovskoy

Article in German

The article is a functional word that comes before a noun. The article in German is declined and tells us the gender, number and case of the noun. Definite articles are distinguished in German die, der, das, die(pl.) and indefinite ein, eine, ein. The indefinite article does not exist in the plural.

Declension of the definite and indefinite articles in German

The possessive pronouns mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer and the negative pronoun are declined as an indefinite article kein in singular, used instead of the article.
How the definite article is declined by demonstrative pronouns dieser- this, dieses - this, these, dieses - this is ; jenes - then, jener- that, Jene - that, those ; Solcher- such, Solche - such, such solches - such and interrogative pronoun Welcher- which? Welche - which? which? welches - which?

The use of the indefinite article in German

The use of the definite article in German

The use of the zero article in German

The article in German is a special part of speech that accompanies a noun. For many beginners to learn German, a very important part of speech - the article - is incomprehensible. There is no analogue in Russian for this part of speech. But in order to understand at least a little the importance of articles in German, you first need to understand why they are needed at all and what function they play.

In Russian we say: dogs a, dogs at, from dogs oh and so on.

In German, we can say that the article plays the role of our ending. It shows the gender, case and number of the noun.

For example:

It's dogs a. - Das ist ein Hund.
I see dogs at- Ich sehe einen Hund.
He goes for a walk With dogs oh. - Ergeht mit dem Hund spazieren.

As you can see, the German endings do not change. Instead of endings, the article is used. The German article is located directly before a noun. If there is a definition before the noun, the article is placed before the definition.

Das ist ein interested in Buch. - This is an interesting book.

What articles are there in German?

There are 4 types of articles in German:

indefinite article

definite article

zero article

negative article

Declension table for definite and indefinite articles

There are four cases in German (Kasus):

nominative (nominative) wer? was? - who? what?

Accusative (accusative) wen? was? - whom? what?

Dative (dative) wem? Welcher Sache? - to whom? what?

Genitive (genitive) wessen? - whom? what?

In this table you see the forms of the definite and indefinite article for the masculine, neuter, feminine and plural forms. Note that there is no indefinite article in the plural. The definite article in the plural is the same for all genders - DIE.

All nouns in German are writtencapitalized and used withindefinite or certainarticle. Sometimes the article is not used.

In German, the article not only gives information about the definiteness / indefiniteness of the noun, but also indicates the gender, number and case of the noun, bowing down.

When to use which article?

Our website has the option pronunciation have any German text. For this it's simple highlight german text or a word anywhere on our site and click on the bottom right "Play" button(white triangle in a black circle). After that, you will hear the text spoken in German.

Indefinite article has the following forms:

ein- for the masculine singular - ein Hund (dog)
ein- for the neuter singular - ein Loch (hole)
eine- for the feminine singular - eine Maus (mouse)

But do not forget that these articles are inflected. If you forgot, then look again at the article declension table.

In the plural, the designations of indefinite persons or objects are used without the article.

The indefinite article ein or eine used

• with nouns which we call for the first time:

Mochten Sie eine banana? - Do you want ( one) banana?

Das ist ein Buch. - This is a book.
Das Buch ist sehr interessant. - This book is very interesting.

• after the verb haben if the noun is in the accusative case.

Ich habe einen hund und eine Katze. -
I have ( one) dog and ( one) cat.

• after speech es gigbt(have, have)

In meiner Stadt gibt es einen schönen Park und ein Theatre. -
In my city there is (there is) ( one) nice park and one) theatre.

• when there is a comparison and the conjunction wie is used (as):

Sie singt wie ein Vogel. - She sings like a bird.

Definite article has the following forms:

der- for the masculine singular - der Hund (dog)
das- for the neuter singular - das Loch (hole)
die- for the feminine singular - die Maus (mouse)
die- for the plural - die Hunde (dogs)

The definite article der, die or das used

• with nouns that we know, about which we are not talking for the first time.

Mmm, die Banana ist lecker. - Mmm, ( this) The banana is delicious.

Das ist ein Buch. - This is a book.
Das Buch ist sehr interesting. - This book is very interesting.

• when talking about a subject the only possible in this situation:

East der Director schon da? - Is the director already here?

Mein Kind kommt bald aus der Schule. - My child will come home from school soon.

Director at the company one and the school the child goes to one.

• when talking about the only subject of a kind:

a) names of celestial bodies:

die Sonne - the sun
der Mond - moon, month
die Erde - Earth
die Venus - Venus
der Merkur - Mercury, etc.;

b) the names of the countries of the world, seasons, months and days of the week:

der Norden - north
der sommer - summer
der January - January
der Montag - Monday, etc.;

In combination Anfang, Ende, Mitte The article is not used with the name of the month:

Anfang Januar fahren wir ins Gebirge. - At the beginning of January we go to the mountains.

c) names of oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, for example:

der Stille Ozean - Pacific Ocean
das Schwarze Meer - Black Sea
der Don - Don
der Ladoga-See - Lake Ladoga;

d) names of streets, squares, avenues:

der Newski Prospekt
der Rossplatz
die Käthe-Kolwitz-Straße, etc.;

e) names of mountains, winds, deserts:

der Ural
der Nordost - north-east
die Sahara - Sahara, etc.;

• with a superlative adjective or ordinal number:

die klügste Antwort is the smartest answer
der erste Schnee - first snow;

Use zero article you just have to learn by heart!

• The article is missing when uncountable nouns and abstract concepts - that which cannot be touched, seen.

For example: Zeit- time, Lust- a wish, Gluck- happiness, Hunger- hunger and similar words.

Indeed, it is impossible to count!

Ich habe Zeit- I have time.
Ich habe Hunger- I'm hungry.

Also used without the article

• professions :

Ich bin Arzt- I am a doctor.
Meine freundin ist Informatikerin. - My friend is a computer scientist.
Erist student. - He is a student.

nationality

Ich bin Russin. - I am Russian.
Sie ist Spanierin. - She's Spanish.
Sie sind Chinese. - They're Chinese.

• religious supplies

Ich bin Katholik. - I am Catholic.
Seid Ihr Buddhisten? - Are you Buddhists?
Sie sind Christen. - They are Christians.

• names of cities, countries and continents:

Ich komme aus Deutschland. - I'm from Germany.
In einem Monat fahre ich nach Kiev. - In a month I will go to Kyiv.

Exceptions: die Schweiz (Switzerland), die Türkei (Turkey), die USA (USA), der Iran (Iran), die Niederlande (Netherlands) and others

materials and substances:

das house aus Holz- tree house
die Tasche aus leder- leather bag
Trinken Sie Kaffee gern? - Do you like coffee?

diseases:

Ich habe Grippe. - I have the flu.
Er hat Fieber. - He has a fever.

in plural, if in the singular the noun is used with an indefinite article (the absence of an article indicates an indefinite set of named objects):

Da Steht ein Haus. - Here is the house.
Da stehen Hauser. - Here are the houses.

We strongly recommend that you memorize German nouns immediately with articles, as articles play an important role in the correct construction of sentences. For example, learn the word "lamp" not as "Lampe" but as "die Lampe".

In addition to the definite and indefinite articles in German, there are also a number of pronouns that carry information about the gender, number and case of a noun. These are demonstrative pronouns (dieser - this, jener - that, etc.), possessive pronouns (mein - mine, dein - yours, etc.) and a negative pronoun (negative article) kein. Such pronouns are used instead of the article and are declined as a definite or indefinite article.

Demonstrative pronouns also decline like the definite article dieser - this one, jener - that one, solcher - such and interrogative pronoun

Anyone who is just starting to learn German is faced with the problem of articles. It is difficult for a Russian speaker to understand this topic, because in our speech we do not use anything similar to articles in German. In this article, we simply 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 feminine (di);

Das - for the middle gender (das);

Die is plural (di).

They are used in the following cases:

1. When we know what is at stake. If this subject has already been discussed before. For example: der Hund (a certain dog, which has already been mentioned).
2. To denote phenomena that are one of a kind, analogues of which do not exist 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 (ayin);

Eine - feminine (Aine).

There is no article for the plural in this case.

In German, it is used in cases:

1. When we talk about objects unfamiliar to us (ein Hund - 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 species or class designations (Der Löwe ist ein Raubtier - a lion is 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 in German actually exist. There is such a thing as In fact, this is the absence of the article at all. So, we do not write anything before a noun if:

1. It denotes a profession or occupation (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, material (aus Gold - from gold).

Almost always in Russian and the articles corresponding to it in German differ from each other. For example, if our “girl” is feminine, then in German - middle - “das Mädchen”. It means "girl". There is a set of endings with which you can make it easier to determine the gender of a noun, but for the most part there is only one way out - to remember.

Another difficulty is the declension of articles in German. Just as in Russian we do not say: “I see a girl”, so in German. Each article is inflected for cases. The task is facilitated by the fact that there are only four cases: Nominativ (nominative), Genetiv (genitive), Dativ (dative) and Akkusativ (like accusative). Declension just needs to be remembered. For your convenience, we provide a table below.

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

Before we start talking about the noun in German, let's talk about an equally important part of speech - the article. The article is an official part of speech in German and carries information about the gender, case and number of the noun, and also indicates whether the subject has been discussed before or it is mentioned for the first time.

So, in German there are two types of articles: definite (der, die, das) and indefinite (ein, eine, ein). If there is no article, we can talk about the zero article.

Example: Das ist ein Buch. Das Buch ist ziemlich gut. - This is a book. The book is pretty good.

As a rule, articles are not translated into Russian.

Indefinite article

The indefinite article is used when talking about an unfamiliar, indefinite subject mentioned for the first time.

The indefinite article, like the definite article, varies by case. There are four cases in German.
nominative(N) [nominatif] - answers the questions: wer? (who?) was? (what?)
Genitive(G) [genitif] - wessen? (whose? whose? whose?)
Dative(D) [datif] - wem? (to whom?) wann? (when?) wo? (where?) wie? (how?)
Accusative(Akk) [akuzatif] - wen? was? (who? what?) wohin? (where?)

The rules for declension of the indefinite article in the singular are given in the table. Plural of the indefinite article No.

As you can see, the declension of the indefinite article of the masculine and neuter gender differs only in one case - the accusative. The declension of the article with feminine nouns is easiest to remember: the nominative form is the same as the accusative, and the genitive is the same as the dative.

Along with the form, you need to remember the rules for using the indefinite article. So, the indefinite article is used:

1. Before nouns that are mentioned for the first time.

Ich habe eine Wohnung. Auf dem Tisch steht ein Teller. - I have an apartment. There is a plate on the table.

1. Before nouns that are part of a complex nominal predicate (verb + noun). For example:

1. Before a noun in comparison.

Sie ist schön wie eine Rose. She is beautiful like a rose.

1. After the verbs "haben", "brauchen" and after the turnover "es gibt".

Wir haben ein Auto. Ich brauche eine Jacke. Hiergibt es eine Schule. - We have a car. I need a jacket. There is a school here.

1. Before nouns that denote a profession, nationality, rank, if they have a defining word in front of them - for example, an adjective:

Er ist ein fleissiger Student. — He is a diligent student.

Remember! If there is no defining word before a noun denoting a profession, nationality or title, then the article is NOT used.

Definite article

The definite article refers to an object that is already familiar or known. The definite article is also inflected for cases.

Please note that in the case of the declension of the definite article, the masculine and neuter forms coincide only in the genitive and dative cases.

The indefinite article is also used according to some rules, which are given below. So, the indefinite article is used:

1. Before a noun that was used before.

Wie haben ein Hund. Der Hund ist gross. - We have a dog. The dog is big.

1. Before a noun that is known or determined by the situation or context.

Die Lehrerin sagt, "Öffnet die Lehrbücher." - The teacher says: "Open your textbooks."

1. Before a noun, after which there is some clarifying information, usually expressed by another noun with a preposition, a noun in the genitive case, or an adverb.

Das ist das Buch meines Bruder. This is my brother's book.
Das Buch auf dem Tisch ist ein Lehrbuch. — The book on the table is a textbook.
Der Mann links ist mein Vater. The man on the left is my father.

1. Superlative adjectives or ordinal numbers.

Das ist die größte Wohnung. - It's a big apartment.

Das ist das erste Haus. - This is the first house.

1. Before nouns that refer to unique objects or phenomena: die Sonne (sun), der Mond (moon), etc.

Die Erde ist rund. - The earth is round.

To check how well you have learned the rule about articles, try the following exercises. Do not be afraid to peek at the tables - we are just learning!

Tasks for the lesson

Exercise 1. Answer the questions.

1. What article is used after the verbs "haben" and "brauchen"?
2. How many articles are there in German?
3. What article is used with nouns denoting unique objects or phenomena?
4. Give the form of the masculine definite article in the dative case.
5. What questions does the genitive case answer?

Exercise 2. Complete the table with the correct form of the article.

Answer 1:

1. Indefinite article.
2. Two: definite and indefinite. (An answer is possible: three, if we take into account the zero article, that is, its absence.)
3. Definite article.
4. Whose? Whose? Whose?

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

Types of articles

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

Articles der, das, die – certain and ein, eine – uncertain. The category of certainty indicates that the subject being discussed is selected from a multitude of similar ones 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 Madchen wine.
I see (some) girl there. She is 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, a specific girl, who is standing there, so in the translation we can safely 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 is already becoming defined, i.e. acquaintances, in each specific situation, otherwise there may even be misunderstandings in dealing with the Germans. It is impossible to use only certain or indefinite articles, both of which 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 cases

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

Declension of the definite article

Declension of the indefinite article

* Since the indefinite article ein derived from the numeral eins= one, then in the plural ein is inappropriate, but negation is declined in a similar way kein= none, for plural - keine= none.

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