Definite and indefinite articles

A definite article means “the.” An indefinite article means “a” or “an.” Compare der Tisch (the table) with ein Tisch (a table): the meaning changes, but Tisch stays masculine.

Our scope: nominative forms

This table gives the basic dictionary and subject forms, called nominative. German articles also change with grammatical case. You will study those changes separately; do not use this table as a rule for every position in every sentence.

Gender / number	the	a / an	Example
Masculine	der	ein	der Tisch → ein Tisch
Feminine	die	eine	die Tür → eine Tür
Neuter	das	ein	das Fenster → ein Fenster
Plural	die	—	die Kinder → Kinder

Nominative forms. Learn each noun with its article and plural. Endings are clues; capitalization belongs to the noun.

Plural is a number, not a fourth gender

In the nominative plural, all three genders use die: die Tische, die Türen, die Fenster. So die alone does not prove that a noun is feminine; it may be plural.

There is no plural form of the indefinite article ein/eine. English “a child” becomes “children”; German ein Kind becomes Kinder. Words such as einige (some) or viele (many) can add a quantity. The plural noun itself must be learned; this lesson does not give one universal plural ending.