Key points about nouns
- A noun is a naming word used for a person, place, creature or thing.
- Nouns are either These are nouns that take the article der in German (usually referring to male people or certain objects)., These are nouns that take the article die in German (usually referring to female people or certain objects)., These are nouns that take the article das in German (often referring to things, places, or abstract concepts). or plural.
- The words for the or a change depending on the gender and whether the noun is singular or plural.
- All nouns have a capital letter in German.
Check your understanding
What is a noun?
A noun is a naming word for a person, place, creature or thing. For example: der Bruderbrother, die Stadttown, das Kaninchenrabbit and die Ideeidea.
A noun can be masculine, feminine, neuter or plural. The Nouns in German are classified into three groups: masculine, feminine or neuter. Each noun therefore has a gender. of a noun will usually be indicated by m, f or n next to the word in a dictionary.
The plural ending of a noun will usually be indicated in brackets next to the noun in a dictionary, for example, Hund (-e)
Like in English, all Refers to a person, place or the name of an organisation or brand. have a capital letter in German. For example: Berlin, Wien, Oskar, Mathilda. However, in German all other nouns must also have a capital letter.
It is easy to identify a noun in German because it always has a capital letter. A word can change meaning if the capital letter is missing. For example:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. - We are eating food in Essen.
- essen with a lowercase e is the verb '(to) eat'.
- das Essen with an uppercase E and preceded by the Refers to the words for ‘the’, ‘a/an’.das is the noun 'food'.
- in Essen with an uppercase E is preceded by the Is word or group of word which shows where or when something is in relation to something else eg next to, on, under, after etc. in is the town of Essen in Germany.
Remember:
It is important that all nouns start with a capital letter in German. A word can change meaning if the capital letter is missing.
Mini quiz
- How is a noun identified in German?
It has a capital letter at the start.
- Identify the nouns in the sentence: Meine Schwester heißt Maria und sie hat lange braune Haare und grüne Augen.
Schwester, Maria, Haare and Augen.
- Identify the nouns in the sentence: In meiner Freizeit spiele ich oft am Computer. Ich spiele gern Videospiele.
Freizeit, Computer and Videospiele.
Quiz
Take this multiple-choice quiz to check your understanding of nouns in German.
More on Nouns, determiners and cases
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