Nouns, pronouns and articles
Articles
There are two types of article: the definite and the indefinite.
The definite article
In English the definite article is the word 'the', for both singular and plural.
In German, as we have seen in the section on nouns, the definite article is:
- 'der' if the noun is masculine
- 'die' if the noun is feminine
- 'das' if the noun is neuter.
All three genders become 'die' in the plural.
| Singular noun and article | Plural noun and article |
| der Schuh (the shoe) | die Schuhe (the shoes) |
| die Socke (the sock) | die Socken (the socks) |
| das Kind (the child) | die Kinder (the children) |
NB: Note the three different ways of forming the plural in the above examples. These three are in fact fairly typical.
- Many masculine nouns form the plural by adding '-e' at the end, often adding an Umlaut to the vowel (though 'der Schuh' is an exception!)
- Many feminine nouns add '-e' or '-en' at the end.
- Many neuter nouns add '-er', again adding an Umlaut if possible (eg 'das Buch' becomes 'die Bücher' in the plural).
The indefinite article
In English the indefinite article is the word 'a', 'an' or 'some'.
In German it again has three forms, according to the gender of the noun:
- 'ein' if the noun is masculine
- 'eine' if the noun is feminine
- 'ein' if the noun is neuter.
| ein Bleistift (m) | a pencil |
| eine Heftklammer (f) | a staple |
| ein Lineal (n) | a ruler |
Using the indefinite article in the plural form
In both English and German, you do not always need to use the indefinite article in the plural form. In practice, in the classroom, you will commonly use plural nouns with numbers, or with the indefinite article missing, as in the examples below:
| Braune Augen sind schön. | Brown eyes are nice. |
| Neue Schuhe sind teuer. | New shoes are dear. |