Key points about definite and indefinite articles
- All German nouns have a gender: masculine, feminine or neuter.
- One way of working out the gender of a noun is to look at the An article is a word before a noun which shows if it is something specific ‘the’ or general ‘a/an’. article used in front of it.
- 'Definite article' refers to the.
- 'Indefinite article' refers to a.
Definite and indefinite articles
Definite and indefinite articles are This means to change the article to match the case, gender and number of a noun in a sentence. depending on their gender and The case shows how nouns function in a sentence and relate to other words. They indicate who is doing an action, who owns something and who is affected by an action..
| Definite article | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| Accusative | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| Dative | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| Genitive | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| Indefinite article | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| Accusative | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| Dative | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
| Genitive | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. |
Remember:
It is not possible to have a plural a. The forms keine/keinen/keiner are used in the table above to mean not any.
Mini quiz
Complete the sentences by filling in the correct definite or indefinite article.
- Ich kaufe _____ Apfel (masculine, accusative) im Supermarkt.
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- _____ Museum (neuter, nominative) ist Montags geschlossen.
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Quiz
Take this multiple-choice quiz to revise definite and indefinite articles.
More on Nouns, determiners and cases
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