What is an Article?

An article is a small word placed before a noun. It tells us whether we are talking about a specific thing or any thing of that kind.

Definite article (bestimmter Artikel) — refers to a specific, known thing: the
Indefinite article (unbestimmter Artikel) — refers to a non-specific thing: a / an

Gender in German

Every German noun has a grammatical gender — masculine, feminine, or neuter. The article you use depends on the gender of the noun.

Unlike English, which uses only the and a/an, German has three forms of the definite article and two forms of the indefinite article:

der — masculine (maskulin)
die — feminine (feminin)
das — neuter (neutral)

You cannot always guess a noun's gender from its meaning — it must be learned together with the noun. Always memorise a new noun with its article.

Quick Overview

Gender	Definite (The)	Indefinite (a/an)
masculine	der	ein
feminine	die	eine
neuter	das	ein
plural (all genders)	die	—

Note: indefinite articles have no plural form. Use the noun alone: Hunde (dogs), Bücher (books).

Definite Articles – der, die, das

Use the definite article when you are talking about something specific and known — both speaker and listener know which one is meant.

Masculine — der

Der Mann ist groß. (The man is tall.)
Der Hund schläft. (The dog is sleeping.)
Der Tisch ist braun. (The table is brown.)

Feminine — die

Die Frau ist klug. (The woman is smart.)
Die Katze ist weiß. (The cat is white.)
Die Schule ist groß. (The school is big.)

Neuter — das

Das Kind spielt. (The child plays.)
Das Buch ist neu. (The book is new.)
Das Auto ist rot. (The car is red.)

Indefinite Articles – ein, eine

Use the indefinite article when introducing something for the first time, or when talking about one of many.

Masculine — ein

Das ist ein Mann. (That is a man.)
Hier ist ein Stuhl. (Here is a chair.)

Feminine — eine

Das ist eine Frau. (That is a woman.)
Hier ist eine Tür. (Here is a door.)

Neuter — ein

Das ist ein Kind. (That is a child.)
Hier ist ein Fenster. (Here is a window.)

Masculine and neuter share the same indefinite article:

ein Mann · ein Kind · eine Frau

Common Noun Genders to Know

While gender must be learned with each noun, certain patterns can help:

Pattern	Gender	Examples
nouns ending in -er (people/jobs)	der	Lehrer, Vater, Bruder
nouns ending in -ung	die	Zeitung, Wohnung, Übung
nouns ending in -heit / -keit	die	Freiheit, Möglichkeit
nouns ending in -chen / -lein	das	Mädchen, Fräulein
most -e nouns	die	Katze, Schule, Straße

Definite vs. Indefinite — Side by Side

Here is how the two article types work in the same sentence:

Ein Mann steht an der Tür.

A man is standing at the door. (first mention — we don't know which man)

Der Mann ist mein Vater.

The man is my father. (now we know exactly which man)

Das ist eine Katze. Die Katze heißt Mia.

That is a cat. The cat is called Mia.

Notice: first mention uses eine, the second reference uses die — the same pattern as English a / the.

Fill in the correct article — definite (der/die/das) or indefinite (ein/eine) — based on the sentence.

Articles – der, die, das, ein, eine