Nouns in German Grammar are words that describe beings, places and things e. g. die Frau – the woman, der Bahnhof – the train station,, das Wetter – the weather. German nouns can be used with masculine (der), feminine (die) or neuter (das) articles and they are always written with a capital letter. German noun endings change to match the case they are in.

In the following pages, you will learn to use German nouns and articles in their singular and plural forms as well as in the nominative, accusative, dative and genitive cases.

der, die, das – Gender of Nouns in German Grammar

he gender of German nouns can be identified by the article they take; der for masculine, die for feminine and das for neuter. While native German speakers intuitively know which article to use, it is best for German learners to learn the article together with the noun. Luckily, there are some rules to help you recognise masculine, feminine and neuter nouns in German Grammar.

Example

der – Masculine Nouns

This table outlines the rules for the masculine nouns in German

die – Feminine Nouns

This table outlines the rules for the feminine nouns in German

das – Neuter Nouns

This table outlines the rules for the neuter nouns in German.

Gender of Compound Nouns

When a noun is formed from several other nouns combined into one word, the last noun in the word determines the gender of the entire word.

• Example: 🔊 Listen der Tisch .
• 🔊 Listen das Bein
• 🔊 Listen das Tischbein

Articles in German Grammar

Articles are used with nouns. They can be definite: der, die, das (the); or indefinite: ein, eine (a, an). In English grammar, the article does not change its form, however, in German grammar, the article changes its form to indicate the gender, number and case of a noun.

Example

Indefinite Articles

The indefinite articles are ein (masculine, neuter) and eine (feminine). We use the indefinite article:

• when we’re talking about something that is not specifically defined.

Example: 🔊 Listen Lena ist eine Freundin von Lara .  (one of several)

• when we mention something in a text for the first time (introductory)
  

Example: 🔊 Listen Lena hat ein Eis gekauft

Definite Articles

The definite articles are der (masculine), die (feminine/plural), and das (neuter). We use the definite article:

• when we’re talking about something specific

Example: 🔊 Listen Lena ist die Freundin von Franz. . (the only one – they are a couple)

• when we’ve already mentioned something, or assume it to be already known.

Example: 🔊 Listen Das Eis schmeckt ihr sehr gut.

Declension Table for German Articles

This table provides a simple overview of the declension of definite and indefinite articles the nominative, accusative, dative and genitive cases in German grammar.

Contractions: article + preposition

When a preposition is placed in front of a definite article, the two are contracted into one word. The table below displays a list of the most common preposition and article contractions.

No Article

We generally don’t use any article for:

• names of places

Example: 🔊 Listen Sie wohnen in Bremen.

• the names of most countries except for e. g. die Schweiz, die Türkei, die USA

Example: 🔊 Listen Wir machen Urlaub in Österreich. . (but: Wir machen Urlaub in der Schweiz.)

• Equalisations/identifications using the verbs sein/werden
  

Example: 🔊 Listen Es ist Juli. .

🔊 Listen Mein Bruder will Arzt werden.

• particular concrete abilities

Example: 🔊 Listen Ich spiele Klavier/Tennis

🔊 Listen Leo spricht Japanisch.

• materials/substances e. g. Papier, Holz, Wasser, Milch, Eisen, but only in a general context. Use an article when talking about specific materials.

Example: 🔊 Listen Papier wird aus Holz hergestellt

🔊 Listen Wir müssen noch Wasser kaufen.