Indefinite article ein. The article ein in German. What articles are there in German?

Oh, this German language - it contains such a thing as articles. Articles in German are of the following types: definite, indefinite, negative, zero. Definite articles are die, das, der– each of which is responsible for a specific genus. The indefinite article is ein. Negative – kein.

How does the definite article in German differ from the indefinite article?

The indefinite article is placed before nouns, which have not yet been discussed - and which is mentioned for the first time. (Except for special cases, which you will read about below).

Das ist eine Katze. – It's a cat.

The definite article is used before a word that has already been discussed. Here we are again about the cat, but we met her in the last sentence, which means:

Die Katze ist schwarz. – This cat is black.

The indefinite article is also used if the speaker does not know at all whether there is an object that he needs in a given place at a given time: Wo ist hier ein Telefon?-Where is the phone here?

The definite article is used when you are asking for something specific, describing something specific, mentioning something specific.

Here's a comparison:

Gib mir ein Messer.

Gib mir das Messer.

What is the difference between these two examples? Both of them can be translated as: give me the knife. Only in the first option, the person asking doesn’t care what kind of knife they give him - any one will suit him. But in the second case: the person asking has in mind a specific knife that he sees - and maybe even points at.

Articles in German can also be inflected according to cases and numbers. Here's the definite article:

I will not tell you which words are used in which of the listed genders within the framework of this note. Wait for the next article about the gender of German nouns.

And here is the indefinite article:

The negative article is the same indefinite article, but with the letter k at the beginning. That's why I didn't want to draw a separate table... BUT! There is a very important difference between them. Therefore, catch the third sign:

Notice the main difference? That's right - the plural with a negative article is used!

By the way, read about negation in German.

Tables with declination of articles need to be known by heart - this the beginning of time, which will be very useful in the future. In principle, the endings of all the listed articles are similar - and there is nothing wrong with them. If you are really depressed and too lazy to learn this, try dropping the genetive - the last line in each tablet - you can make up for it later, but at first you can do without it.

And one more hint: a woman in dative and genitive turns into a man!

There are a few more rules: when it is necessary to use the definite article, and in which cases - the indefinite article. Sometimes the article is completely absent... These are the cases we will now consider.

The definite article in German

Definite article in German it is usually placed before:

• Famous buildings: das Brandenburger Tor – Brandenburg Gate der Eiffelturm – Eiffel Tower.
• one of a kind concepts : die Sonne- Sun, die Erde - Earth
• names of some countries: der Iraq, die USA
• geographical names :die Alpen– Alps, der Rhein– Rain
• names of organizations: das Finanzamt– financial department
• historical eras and events: die deutsche Wiedervereinigung – German reunification
• titles: der Papst- Pope, die Queen- queen
• superlative adjectives: der beste Schüler– best student

Indefinite article put:

• after the verbs haben, brauchen and the phrase es gibt: Hast du eine Schwester? - Do you have a sister?
• when comparing: Sie spricht Deutsch wie eine Deutsche.– She speaks German like a German.
• in designs: so ein, ein solcher, solch ein.

Zero article

The article is absent in the following cases:

• before nouns denoting material: aus Gold- made of gold, aus Wolle- made of wool
• before the names of languages: Deutsch- German, Italienisch – Italian
• before the names of most countries, names of cities and continents: Germany, Cologne, Africa
• when contacting: Kinder!!!– Deeeeti!!! Freunde!!!- Friends!!!
• in the names of religious holidays: Ostern- Easter, Weihnachten- Christmas.
• in stable combinations and proverbs: Übung macht den Meister– Practice makes perfect, zu Fuß- on foot
• often when listing: Neue Wohnhäuser, Schulen, Krankenhäuser wird gebaut. – New houses, schools, hospitals are being built.
• before uncountable nouns: Liebe- Love, Luft- air
• before proper names (although in some regions they really like to endow human names with definite articles): Guten Tag, Frau Müller!- Good afternoon, Frau Müller!
• before professions and nationalities in the following phrases: Sie ist Friseurin.- She is a hairdresser. Er ist Franzose. - He is French.

Before we start talking about the noun in German, let's talk about an equally important part of speech - the article. The article is a service part of speech in the German language and carries information about the gender, case and number of the noun, and also indicates whether the subject has been discussed before or is mentioned for the first time.

So, in German there are two types of articles: definite (der, die, das) and indefinite (ein, eine, ein). If there is no article, we can talk about a zero article.

Example: Das ist ein Buch. Das Buch ist ziemlich gut. - This is a book. The book is pretty good.

Articles, as a rule, are not translated into Russian.

Indefinite article

The indefinite article is used when we are talking about an unfamiliar, indefinite object mentioned for the first time.

The indefinite article, like the definite article, changes according to cases. There are four cases in German.
Nominative(N) [nominatif] – answers the questions: wer? (who?) was? (What?)
Genitiv(G) [genitif] – wessen? (whose? whose? whose?)
Dativ(D) [datif] - wem? (to whom?) wann? (when?) wo? (where?) wie? (How?)
Akkusativ(Akk) [akuzatif] - wen? was? (who? what?) wohin? (Where?)

The rules for declension of the indefinite article in the singular are given in the table. Plural of the indefinite article No.

As you can see, the declension of the masculine and neuter indefinite article differs only in one case - the accusative. The declension of the article with feminine nouns is the easiest to remember: the form of the nominative case coincides with the accusative, and the genitive case with the dative.

Along with the form, you need to remember the rules for using the indefinite article. So, the indefinite article is used:

1. Before nouns that are mentioned for the first time.

Ich habe eine Wohnung. Auf dem Tisch steht ein Teller. - I have an apartment. There is a plate on the table.

1. Before nouns that are part of a complex nominal predicate (verb + noun). For example:

1. Before a noun in comparison.

Sie ist schön wie eine Rose. - She is as beautiful as a rose.

1. After the verbs “haben”, “brauchen” and after the phrase “es gibt”.

Wir haben ein Auto. Ich brauche eine Jacke. Hier gibt es eine Schule. — We have a car. I need a jacket. There is a school here.

1. Before nouns that denote profession, nationality, rank, if they are preceded by a defining word - for example, an adjective:

Er ist ein fleißiger Student. — He is a diligent student.

Remember! If there is no qualifying word before a noun denoting profession, nationality or rank, then the article is NOT used.

Definite article

The definite article indicates an object that is already familiar or known. The definite article is also declined according to cases.

Please note that in the case of the declension of the definite article, the masculine and neuter forms coincide only in the genitive and dative cases.

The indefinite article is also used according to some rules, which are given below. So, the indefinite article is used:

1. Before a noun that was used before.

Wie haben ein Hund. Der Hund ist groß. - We have a dog. The dog is big.

1. Before a noun that is known or determined by the situation or context.

Die Lehrerin sagt, “Öffnet die Lehrbücher.” - The teacher says: “Open your textbooks.”

1. Before a noun, after which there is some clarifying information, usually expressed by another noun with a preposition, a noun in the genitive case or an adverb.

Das ist das Buch meines Bruder. - This is my brother's book.
Das Buch auf dem Tisch ist ein Lehrbuch. — The book on the table is a textbook.
Der Mann links ist mein Vater. - The man on the left is my father.

1. Superlative adjective or ordinal number.

Das ist die größte Wohnung. — This is a big apartment.

Das ist das erste Haus. - This is the first house.

1. Before nouns that denote unique objects or phenomena: die Sonne (sun), der Mond (moon), etc.

Die Erde ist rund. - The earth is round.

To check how well you have understood the rule about articles, try to complete the following exercises. Don't be afraid to peek at the tables - we're just learning!

Lesson assignments

Exercise 1. Answer the questions.

1. Which article is used after the verbs “haben” and “brauchen”?
2. How many articles are there in German?
3. What article is used with nouns denoting unique objects or phenomena?
4. Name the form of the definite article in the masculine dative case.
5. What questions does the genitive case answer?

Exercise 2. Complete the table with the correct form of the article.

Answer 1:

1. Indefinite article.
2. Two: definite and indefinite. (Possible answer: three, if we take into account the zero article, i.e. its absence.)
3. Definite article.
4. Whose? Whose? Whose?

The presence of an article (art.) is a feature that distinguishes the German language from many others.

Art. – this is an auxiliary part of speech that means:

• grammatical features of a noun (noun). Therefore, it occurs when any word is substantivized: leben – das Leben (to live – life); fünf – die Fünf (five – five);
• gender, case, number: der Lehrer (teacher), des Lehrers (teachers), die Lehrer (plural);
• indicates the meaning of certainty and uncertainty of a noun. in a sentence: Das ist ein Buch. Das Buch ist sehr interessant. - This is a book. The book is very interesting.

There is a distinction between the definite article (definitive article) (singular: der, die, das; plural: die) and the indefinite article. (ein, eine, ein; no plural).

Def. art. in German it is used:

• before (trans.) noun, denoting something unique, unique: die Erde - Earth, der Mond - Moon, die UNO - UN;
• lane noun denoting a specific object in a given situation: Monika saß auf der Couch. – Monica sat down on the sofa. Er wäscht sich die(seine) Hände, den Kopf. - He washes (his) hands and head. Sie wohnen in der Gartenstraße. – They live on Sadovaya Street.
• lane noun denoting an object or person known to the interlocutors: Wie war der Konzert? – How was the concert? Gefällt Ihnen der Film? – Do you like the film?
• lane nouns that are remembered in conversation or text: Ein Hund stand auf einmal vor meiner Tür. Der Hund war klein mit langen Ohren. “A dog suddenly appeared in front of my door. The dog was small with long ears.
• lane abstract concepts that are used for generalization: die Jugend - youth, die Heimat - Homeland, Das Leben kann so wunderschön sein! – Life can be so wonderful!
• lane a noun that is qualified by an adjective or subordinate clause: Wir mieten die Wohnung im ersten Stock. – We rent an apartment on the second floor. Sie hatte das Gefühl, krank zu sein. “She had a feeling that she was sick.”
• before geographical names (names of seas, lakes, mountains, etc.) and before the names of some countries: die Alpen - Alps, der Bodensee - Bodensee, der Ural - Ural, das Europa - Europe, der Süden - South, das Afrika — Africa; Italien - Italy, Frankreich - France, Russland - Russia, but: der Iran - Iran, die Schweiz - Switzerland, die Ukraine - Ukraine, die Philippinen - Philippines and others.
• before some proper names: der Marienplatz - Mariinsky Square, die Berliner Philharmoniker - Berlin Philharmonic.
• if a noun denotes the entire type of given objects or persons: Die Rose ist eine Blume. - A rose is a flower. Der Mensch ist sterblich - Man is mortal. Watt hat die Dampfmaschine erfunden – Watt invented the steam engine.
• colloquially before names: Die Meiers wollen umziehen. - The Mayers want to move.

Def. art. in German it is also used for education:

• nouns from other parts of speech: das Spazierengehen - walk, die Mutigen - daredevils, das Lesen - reading;
• superlative comparison of adjectives: Tom ist der jüngste Schüler in unserer Klasse. Tom is the youngest student in our class.

You can also replace the definite article in German with the prepositions pro and je before a specific value or quantity: Der Stoff kostet zehn Euro der Meter. – Fabric costs ten Euros per meter. Er verkauft den Tomaten für zwei Euro das Pfund. – He sells tomatoes for two Euros per pound.

Everything is much more complicated.

There is an article here der for masculine nouns, die- for women, das- for average and die- for plural nouns. But the form of these articles varies depending on the context, and they sometimes take the form dem or den.

Don't be alarmed - with a fair amount of practice, you will begin to understand how to use articles on an intuitive level (at least that's what I reassure myself).

Top tip for learning der, die and das: remember nouns along with articles!

And now to the rules.

Although the use of der, die and das before each noun seems completely haphazard, there is still a certain logic:

• If the word ends in -or, -ling, -smus or -ig, the masculine article is always used with it der, as with the words der Tor (gate), der Feigling (cow), der Journalismus (journalism) and der Honig (honey), respectively.
• If the word ends in -ung, -keit, -schaft, –tät, -ik, -tion, -heit or -ei, the feminine article is always used with it die. For example, die Ahnung (idea), die Möglichkeit (opportunity), die Wissenschaft (science), die Qualität (quality), die Semantik (semantics), die Situation (situation), die Dunkelheit (darkness) and die Bäckerei (bakery).
• Very often (though not always) words ending in -e also used with the article die, such as die Lampe (lamp).
• Article die always used with plural nouns (except for the dative case, which we will return to later).
• If the word ends in -chen, -ma, -um, -ment, -lein or -tum, then the article is used with it das, as in das Würstchen (sausage), das Schema (scheme), das Christentum (Christianity), das Medikament (medicine), das Fräulein (lady) and das Eigentum (property).
• Article das also often used with technical, mechanical and scientific nouns.

At least now you have something to focus on. True, there are still many German words with other endings. Unfortunately, you can only find out their gender and, accordingly, which article to use with them using a dictionary.

Things get more complicated when you encounter any case other than the nominative case.

Accusative case (Akkusativ)

In the accusative case, article der changes to den. Fortunately, the rest of the articles remain the same.

Let's see how it works. To make everything very clear with gender, let's talk about men and women. Let’s take the sentence “A woman hit a man” (Let’s make it clear that we do not encourage violence of any kind, but sometimes it happens, right?)

“Man” is of course masculine, der Mann, and “woman” is feminine, die Frau. Since a woman beats a man (oh, crazy world!), the accusative case takes place. Remember: the only article that changes in the accusative case is the masculine article. As a result, we get the following: Die Frau schlug den Mann.

Dative case (Dativ)

If the noun in the sentence is in the dative case, then the article changes again: der on dem, die on der, das on dem And die for plural of den.

Let's look at a few examples to make things fall into place.

“I waited in line for five hours.”
The noun "queue" in German is feminine, die Schlange. Because in the dative case die becomes der, then the sentence will be as follows:
Ich habe fünf Stunden in der Schlange gewärtet.

Another example: “The glass is on the table.”
The masculine noun der Tisch (table) is in the dative case. So the sentence comes out as follows:
Der Becher ist auf dem Tisch.

"Oranges under the sofa." (How did they get there?!)
In the dative case, the article of the neuter noun das Sofa will change to dem. The entire proposal would be as follows:
Die Orange sind unter dem Sofa.

Genitive case

Belonging to someone or something can be expressed using the preposition von: das Auto von Tom (Tom's car).

But in writing it is better to use the genitive case, in which the articles change as follows: der to des, die to der, das to des And die for the plural of der eg: das Kleid der Frau "woman's dress", das Auto des Mannes "man's car". (When everyone gets what they need, there's no need to fight, right?)

Well, you can breathe out. It's not that bad. Remember that the article in many cases depends on the ending of the noun, learn these endings and practice, practice and practice again.

And repeat like a mantra: “100 million German speakers have mastered this. And I can do it too.”

Articles in German have important grammatical functions. They express gender, number, case and the category of definiteness and indeterminacy of the noun they precede.

Types of articles

German language articles divides in three categories: singular der or ein- for the masculine gender, das or ein– for average, die or eine– for feminine and for plural – article die.

Articles der, das, die – certain And ein, eine – uncertain. The category of certainty says that the subject being discussed is isolated from many similar things and is known to the interlocutors, i.e. contextual or unique.

The indefinite article in German carries novelty information about an object in a given context, introduces interlocutors to a new object that has appeared in the field of communication and is replaced in repeated use by a definite article. For example:

Ich sehe da ein Mädchen. Das Mädchen weint.
I see (some) girl there. She's crying.

It is easy to see what shades of information both articles convey: in the first case, the girl has just appeared in our context, we do not know her yet, she is one of many for us, some kind of girl in other words. In the second sentence we already use definite article in German, because we continue to talk about that girl, the specific girl who is standing there, so in the translation we can easily replace the word “das Mädchen” simply with the word “she”, since it is already clear who we are talking about.

German article table

It is very important to understand the logic when the subject is not yet defined and when it already becomes defined, i.e. acquaintances, in each specific situation, otherwise even misunderstandings may arise in communicating with Germans. You cannot use only definite or indefinite articles, both of them carry their own grammatical and semantic functions and loads in the language system. Therefore, for clarity, below German article table to begin with, in the nominative case (who? what?).

Declension of articles in German by case

We use the nominative case when we answer the question “who?”, “what?”, i.e. we call an object, in other words, it itself produces an action, being a subject. If the action is directed at an object, and it acts as the object of this action, then the noun begins to change according to cases. Declension of articles in German is unthinkable without the participation of the article, unlike in Russian, where the very form of the word changes due to the ending or other methods of word formation. Therefore, as “Our Father” you need to know the following tables of declination of articles:

Declension of the definite article

Declension of the indefinite article

* Since the indefinite article ein came from the numeral eins= one, then in the plural ein is inappropriate, but according to a similar pattern the negative is declined kein= none, for plural – keine= none.

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