German Articles
From ZuluNotes - Free Leaving Cert Notes
In German every noun is preceded by an article and this article is either definite or indefinite. In English the definite article is ‘the’ and the indefinite one is ‘a’ or ‘an’. In German the definite article is 'der’, ‘die' or 'das' and the indefinite one is 'ein’ or ‘eine'. In English the same article is used for all nouns, but in German the nouns are divided into three distinct groups known as 'Maskulinum’, ‘Femininum' and 'Neutrum'. The article is not directly related to the gender of the noun, but is used as a label to separate different types of nouns. The only way to ensure accurate use of the articles is to learn the gender of the noun with each new word. Learn 'der Mann' and not 'Mann'
- der Mann, die Frau, das Kind
- ein Mann, eine Frau, ein Kind
