 +  +  + 
are things (table, chair, car etc.), and names (Himalaya, New York, Germany, Marion)
Note:There are (of course, otherwise it would be too easy) exceptions. Country and city names, e.g., Germany, Berlin, England, London etc., don’t have articles. Personal names like Peter, Ann etc. do sometimes take an article – this is to be explained in the course of further learning the specifics of the language.
BUT: Exceptions do have exceptions as well !
E.g.
die Schweiz
(Switzerland)
die Türkei (Türkey)
to name but two, there are some more. All nouns are always written with a capital letter !
All nouns (besides the exceptions) have a fixed gender
(gender = masculine, feminine, neuter)
Three articles express the gender:
der= masculine
die = feminin
das= neuter
der – die – das are DefiniteArticles, e.g.die Tasche (the bag) meaning a specific bag.
Example: Ich brauche dieTasche.
= I need the (this) bag. (A specific bag.) ein= masculine
eine= feminine
ein = neuter
ein – eine – ein are Indefinite Articles, e.g. eineTasche (a bag) meaning a non-specific bag.
Example: Ich brauche eine Tasche.
= I need a bag. (A non-specific bag.) |
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