German articles

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

German articles

They 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

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.

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.

Indefinite article endings (mixed)
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).

Definite article

This table gives endings for the definite article, equivalent to English the.

Definite article (strong)
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).

Definite article-like endings (strong)
Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural
Nominative -er -e -es -e
Accusative -en -e -es -e
Dative -em -er -em -en
Genitive -es -er -es -er
  • Note that this is essentially the same as the indefinite article table, but with the masculine nominative -er, and the neuter nominative and accusative -es.

“Possessive article-like” pronouns

Under some circumstances (e.g. in a relative clause) the regular possessive pronouns are “replaced” by the genitive forms of other pronouns. English equivalents could be, “The king, whose army Napoleon had defeated…” or “The Himalayas, the highest parts of which were as yet unsurveyed…”. They agree in number and gender with the possessor. Unlike other pronouns they carry no strength. Any adjective following them in the phrase will carry the strong endings.

Definite possessive [of the] (mixed) — i.e. the genitive of the demonstrative pronoun der:

  • Masculine/Neuter: dessen
  • Feminine/Plural: deren

Interrogative possessive [of what] (mixed) – i.e. the genitive of the interrogative pronoun wer:

  • Masculine/Feminine/Neuter/Plural: wessen
NOT: Die Soldaten dessen Armee (correct: Die Soldaten dieser Armee)