German articles
German articles are used similarly to the English articles, a and the. However, they are declined differently according to the number, gender and case of their nouns.
Declension
The inflected forms depend on the number, the case and the gender of the corresponding noun. German articleslike adjectives and pronounshave the same plural forms for all three genders.Indefinite article
This article, ein-, is used equivalently to the word a in English. Like its English equivalent, it has no direct form for a plural; in this situation a range of alternatives such as einige or manche would be used.| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
| Nominative | ein | eine | ein | -'' |
| Accusative | einen | eine | ein | - |
| Dative | einem | einer | einem | -'' |
| Genitive | eines | einer | eines | - |
The same endings are used for the negative indefinite article-like word, and the adjectival possessive pronouns, mein-, dein-, sein-, ihr-, unser-, euer/eur-, Ihr-.
Definite article
This table gives endings for the definite article, equivalent to English 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 so-called "der words" take similar endings. Examples are demonstrative pronouns , the relative pronoun , jed-, manch-, solch-.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
| Nominative | -er | -e | -es | -e |
| Accusative | -en | -e | -es | -e |
| Dative | -em | -er | -em | -en |
| Genitive | -es | -er | -es | -er |
- This is essentially the same as the indefinite article table, but with the masculine nominative -er, and the neuter nominative and accusative -es.