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 The word that comes before the noun which shows if it is something specific (the) or general (a or 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 To change the article to match the case, gender and number of a noun in a sentence. depending on their gender and 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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