German articles change with the gender of the noun, whether it is singular or plural, and the case it is in. This page puts all of them in one place to look up.
The definite article (the)
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der | die | das | die |
| Accusative | den | die | das | die |
| Dative | dem | der | dem | den |
| Genitive | des | der | des | der |
The indefinite article (a, an)
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ein | eine | ein |
| Accusative | einen | eine | ein |
| Dative | einem | einer | einem |
| Genitive | eines | einer | eines |
There is no plural of ein. Kein (no, not any) takes the same endings, and it does have a plural: keine in the nominative and accusative, keinen in the dative and keiner in the genitive. The possessives (mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, Ihr) follow the ein pattern too.
Which case when?
| Case | Question | What it is used for |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | wer? or was? | The subject of the sentence |
| Accusative | wen? or was? | The direct object, and after some prepositions |
| Dative | wem? | The indirect object, and after some prepositions |
| Genitive | wessen? | Possession |
Der Mann gibt dem Kind den Ball.
The man gives the child the ball.
Here der Mann is the subject (nominative), dem Kind is the indirect object (dative) and den Ball is the direct object (accusative).
Patterns that help
- Only the masculine changes in the accusative. Feminine, neuter and plural look exactly like the nominative.
- The neuter is always the same in the nominative and accusative. das and ein do not change.
- Feminine and plural nominative and accusative are both die.
- Dative plural adds -n to the noun as well, if it does not end in one already: mit den Kindern. Plurals that end in -s do not: mit den Autos.
- The genitive of masculine and neuter nouns usually adds -s or -es to the noun: das Buch des Mannes.