Noun
Prepared by: Sumit Goti
A noun is called an "object."
Remember that all nouns in German start with a capital letter.
In the German language, we must use an article before the object.
There are 28 articles in the German language.
How can we use a German article in a sentence?
First rules:
When we make a sentence, we need to know what case we are using and what kind of
sentence we are making.
- Nominativ Case
- Akkusativ Case
- Dativ Case
- Genitiv Case
There are rules for identifying the case of a sentence.
In the German language, articles are divided based on cases. We know that there are two
types of German articles: singular and plural. Each case has six singular articles and one
plural article. Therefore, we can determine the type of sentence we are forming.
Second rules:
After applying the first rule, we follow the second rule within the same sentence.
How?
In the German language, there are two types of articles: definite articles and indefinite
articles.
Definite article: When we are talking about a specific thing or person, we use
a definite article.
Indefinite article: When we are talking about a non-specific thing or person,
we use an indefinite article.
For example:
1) I buy a German book. (Indefinite article – referring to any German book, not a
specific one.)
2) I buy the Themen book. (Definite article – referring to a specific book called
"Themen.")
Third rules:
In the German language, there are 28 articles, but three main definite articles. If we
understand these three well, the rest become easier to use in sentences.
Main Definite Articles in German:
Der → Masculine (M) → "er"
Die → Feminine (F) → "sie"
Das → Neuter (N) → "es"
Main Indefinite Articles in German:
Ein → Masculine (M) → "er"
Eine → Feminine (F) → "sie"
Ein → Neuter (N) → "es"
Which article to use before a noun?
In German, every noun has a gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter). The article used
depends on the gender of the noun. Unfortunately, there is no strict rule to determine the
gender of a noun, meaning articles like der, die, and dasmust often be memorized along
with the noun.
However, there are some general patterns that can help:
Masculine (der) → Typically used for male people (e.g., der Mann – the man) and
many nouns ending in -er, -en, -el (e.g., der Lehrer – the teacher).
Feminine (die) → Often used for female people (e.g., die Frau – the woman) and
many nouns ending in -e, -heit, -keit, -ung (e.g., die Blume – the flower, die Freiheit –
freedom).
Neuter (das) → Used for most diminutives (-chen, -lein), most nouns starting
with Ge-, and many collective nouns (e.g., das Kind – the child, das Mädchen – the
girl).
Since there is no fixed rule for determining noun gender, it is best to learn the article along
with the noun when studying German vocabulary.
In Last:
1) I buy a German book. Ich kaufe ein Deutschbuch
2) I buy the Themen book. Ich Kaufe das Themenbuch.
