Artikel und Nomen
📌 In German, articles and nouns always go together:
- If you see an article, there is definitely a noun after it!
- Articles help define the gender, number, and case of the noun.
🔹 1. Types of Articles in German
| 🏷 Type of Article | 📝 Function | 📌 Example |
|---|---|---|
| Definite article (der, die, das) | Used when the noun is clearly identified. | Der Hund schläft. (The dog is sleeping.) |
| Indefinite article (ein, eine) | Used when the noun is not yet identified. | Ich habe eine Katze. (I have a cat.) |
| Negative article (kein, keine) | Denies the existence of the noun. | Ich habe kein Auto. (I don’t have a car.) |
🔹 2. Genders of Nouns in German
Nouns in German have three main genders:
Masculine (Maskulin) → der
Feminine (Feminin) → die
Neuter (Neutrum) → das
🟦 2.1. Masculine Nouns (Maskulin - der)
Usually: People, male animals, days, months, seasons, directions, nouns with certain endings.
| Noun group | 📖 Example |
|---|---|
| People, male animals | der Vater (father), der Lehrer (male teacher), der Hund (male dog) |
| Days, months, seasons, directions | der Montag (Monday), der Dezember (December), der Sommer (summer), der Norden (north) |
| Typical endings: -er, -en, -el, -ling, -ismus | der Computer, der Löffel (spoon), der Kapitalismus (capitalism) |
🟨 2.2. Feminine Nouns (Feminin - die)
Usually: People, female animals, nouns with certain endings.
| Noun group | 📖 Example |
|---|---|
| People, female animals | die Mutter (mother), die Lehrerin (female teacher), die Katze (female cat) |
| Typical endings: -heit, -keit, -ung, -schaft, -ion, -e | die Freiheit (freedom), die Freundschaft (friendship), die Nation (nation), die Blume (flower) |
🟩 2.3. Neuter Nouns (Neutrum - das)
Usually: Countries, cities, abstract nouns, nouns with certain endings.
| Noun group | 📖 Example |
|---|---|
| Countries, cities (no article) | das Deutschland, das Berlin |
| Abstract nouns | das Glück (luck), das Leben (life) |
| Typical endings: -chen, -nis, -ment, -um, -zeug | das Spielzeug (toy), das Gebäude (building) |
🔹 3. Plural forms of nouns
Note:
There is no fixed rule; plural forms must be learned.
You must learn the noun along with its gender and plural form.
📝 12 ways nouns form plurals
| Plural form | 📖 Recognition rule | ✏ Example (Singular → Plural) |
|---|---|---|
| Add -e | Most masculine and some neuter nouns | der Hund → die Hunde |
| Add -er + umlaut | Mostly neuter nouns | das Kind → die Kinder |
| Add -n / -en | Feminine (die) nouns and nouns ending in -e, -heit, -keit, -ung, -ion | die Blume → die Blumen |
| Add -s | Borrowed words from English, French or ending in -o, -z | das Auto → die Autos |
| No change | Nouns ending in -er, -en, -el | der Lehrer → die Lehrer |
| Add -se | Nouns ending in -nis (stress on last syllable) | das Ergebnis → die Ergebnisse |
| Add -nen | Nouns ending in -in (female profession) | die Lehrerin → die Lehrerinnen |
🔹 4. Article declension by case (Kasusdeklination der Artikel)
Articles change according to the four cases (Kasus):
- Nominative (subject)
- Accusative (direct object)
- Dative (indirect object)
- Genitive (possession)
📌 Article declension table
| Case | Masculine (Maskulin) | Feminine (Feminin) | Neuter (Neutrum) | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der Mann | die Frau | das Kind | die Kinder |
| Accusative | den Mann | die Frau | das Kind | die Kinder |
| Dative | dem Mann | der Frau | dem Kind | den Kindern |
| Genitive | des Mannes | der Frau | des Kindes | der Kinder |
Quick tips:
- Accusative: Only masculine nouns change (der → den).
- Dative: Plural nouns add -n.
- Genitive: Masculine and neuter nouns add -es.
🎯 Summary
notatka
- German nouns have three genders: masculine (der), feminine (die), neuter (das)
- Plural forms vary and there is no absolute rule.
- Articles change according to case (Kasus): Nominative, Accusative, Dative, Genitive
- Nouns always start with a capital letter.
- Plural nouns always take the definite article "die".
- Learn nouns with their gender and plural form together!