LEVEL 1 :: LESSON 1 - PEOPLE

German nouns and their gender

Nouns (Substantiv) are spelt with the capital letter in
German. They can be preceded either by a definite or an
indefinite article, both of which have got different forms
depending on gender: masculine, feminine and neutral, or
grammatical number. Study the examples below.

Singular (Singular)
Plural
Noun (Substantiv)
Masculine Feminine Neutral (Plural)
(Maskulin) (Feminin) (Neutrum)

die Männer,
Frauen,
Definite article die Frau
der Mann das Kind Kinder
(der bestimmte (the
Artikel) (the man) (the child) (the men,
woman)
women,
children)

Indefinite article ein Mann eine Frau ein Kind No indefinite

(der unbestimmte article in
Artikel) plural
Even though English and German words tend to have
similar gender, since you are just starting, it is well worth
learning German nouns together with the corresponding
article until you are able to tell the article intuitively.

Another similarity between the two languages is the use

of articles. As in English, indefinite articles precede nouns
that are used for the first time in a given context, or when
referring to a very general idea. Definite articles, on the
other hand, enable us to describe specific objects, persons
or phenomena.

Example:

◾ das Buch (neutral) – a book (neutral)

◾ Das ist ein Buch. Das Buch ist rot. (This is a book.
The book is red.)
◾ der Baum (masculine) – a tree (neutral)
◾ Das ist ein Baum. Der Baum ist groß. (This is a tree.
The tree is big.)
◾ das Mädchen (neutral) – a girl ( feminine)
◾ Das ist ein Mädchen. Das Mädchen ist sympathisch.
(This is a girl. The girl is nice.)
◾ die Gabel (feminine) – a fork (neutral)
◾ der Löffel (masculine) – a spoon (neutral)
◾ das Messer (neutral) – a knife (neutral)
It is also recommended to memorise nouns both in
singular and plural forms as the rules on how to make the
plural are quite complex and include many exceptions.
Plural nouns are always preceded by the article die.

Example:

◾ das Buch → die Bücher

◾ der Baum → die Bäume
◾ das Kind → die Kinder
◾ der Computer → die Computer
◾ das Auto → die Autos

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