A1Reviewed 2026-06-303 examples2 exercises3 checks

der, die, das: gender and the definite article (Nominativ)

Every German noun has a gender — der (masculine), die (feminine) or das (neuter) — and the plural is always die. Always learn a noun together with its article.

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  • Case government
  • Article agreement
  • Orthography
maskulinfemininneutralPlural
Nominativderdiedasdie
Akkusativdendiedasdie
Dativdemderdemden
Genitivdesderdesder
Bestimmter Artikel — jede Zelle vor dem Build maschinell geprüft.

Every German noun has a grammatical gender, shown by its definite article in the basic (Nominativ) case:

  • der — masculine: der Mann (the man), der Tisch (the table)
  • die — feminine: die Frau (the woman), die Stadt (the city)
  • das — neuter: das Kind (the child), das Haus (the house)
  • die — all plurals: die Männer, die Frauen, die Häuser

Gender is mostly not predictable, so always learn a noun with its article — store "die Frau", never just "Frau". The indefinite article follows the same gender: ein Mann, eine Frau, ein Kind. The Nominativ is the case of the subject — the person or thing doing the action.

Examples

Der Mann ist groß.

The man is tall.

Das Kind heißt Lukas.

The child is called Lukas.

Die Frauen sind hier.

The women are here.

Common mistakes

Not quite: das FrauCorrect: die Frau

Frau is feminine, so its article is die, not das.

Not quite: der HäuserCorrect: die Häuser

Every plural takes die, regardless of the noun's singular gender (das Haus → die Häuser).

Related topics

Practice

  1. ___ Frau ist nett.

  2. Wie heißt ___ Kind?

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