What is the article for buch. German

Before we start talking about the noun in german, let's talk about an equally important part of speech - the article. The article is an official part of speech in German and carries information about the gender, case and number of a noun, and also indicates whether the subject was discussed earlier or it was mentioned for the first time.

So, in German there are two types of articles: definite (der, die, das) and indefinite (ein, eine, ein). If there is no article, we can talk about the zero article.

Example: Das ist ein Buch. Das Buch ist ziemlich gut. - This is a book. The book is pretty good.

Articles, as a rule, are not translated into Russian.

Indefinite article

The indefinite article is used when it comes to an unfamiliar, indefinite subject mentioned for the first time.

The indefinite article, like the definite, changes by case. There are four cases in German.
Nominativ (N) [nominatif] - answers the questions: wer? (who?) was? (what?)
Genitiv (G) [genitif] - wessen? (Whose? Whose? Whose?)
Dativ (D) [datif] - wem? (to whom?) wann? (when?) wo? (where?) wie? (as?)
Akkusativ (Akk) [akuzatif] - wen? was? (who? what?) wohin? (where?)

The declension rules for the indefinite article in the singular are given in the table. Plural of the indefinite article not.

As you can see, the declension of the masculine and neuter indefinite article differs only in one case - the accusative. The declension of an article with feminine nouns is easiest to remember: the nominative case coincides with the accusative, and the genitive with the dative.

Together with the form, you need to remember the rules for using the indefinite article. So, the indefinite article is used:

  1. Before nouns that are mentioned for the first time.

Ich habe eine Wohnung. Auf dem Tisch steht ein Teller. - I have an apartment. There is a plate on the table.

  1. Before nouns that are part of a complex nominal predicate (verb + noun). For instance:
  1. Before the noun in comparison.

Sie ist schön wie eine Rose. - She is beautiful as a rose.

  1. After the verbs "haben", "brauchen" and after the turnover "es gibt".

Wir haben ein Auto. Ich brauche eine Jacke. Hier gibt es eine Schule. - We have a car. I need a jacket. There is a school here.

  1. Before nouns that denote profession, nationality, rank, if there is a defining word in front of them - for example, an adjective:

Er ist ein fleißiger Student. - He is a diligent student.

Remember! If there is no defining word before a noun denoting a profession, nationality or rank, then the article is NOT used.

Definite article

The definite article indicates an object that is already familiar, known. The definite article is also inflected for cases.

Please note that in the case of the declension of the definite article, the masculine and neuter forms are the same only in the genitive and dative cases.

The indefinite article is also used according to some of the rules below. So, the indefinite article is used:

  1. Before the previously used noun.

Wie haben ein Hund. Der Hund ist groß. - We have a dog. The dog is big.

  1. Before a noun that is known or determined by a situation or context.

Die Lehrerin sagt, "Öffnet die Lehrbücher." - The teacher says: "Open your textbooks."

  1. Before a noun, after which there is some kind of clarifying information, as a rule, expressed by another noun with a preposition, a noun in the genitive case or an adverb.

Das ist das Buch meines Bruder. - This is my brother's book.
Das Buch auf dem Tisch ist ein Lehrbuch. - The book on the table is a textbook.
Der Mann links ist mein Vater. “The man on the left is my father.

  1. Superlative adjective or ordinal.

Das ist die größte Wohnung. - It's a big apartment.

Das ist das erste Haus. - This is the first house.

  1. Before nouns that denote unique objects or phenomena: die Sonne (sun), der Mond (moon), etc.

Die Erde ist rund. - The earth is round.

To test how well you’ve grasped the article rule, try the following exercises. Do not be afraid to peep at the tables - we are just learning!

Tasks for the lesson

Exercise 1. Answer the questions.

  1. What article is used after the verbs "haben" and "brauchen"?
  2. How many articles are there in the German language?
  3. What article is used with nouns for unique objects or phenomena?
  4. What is the masculine form of the dative case?
  5. What questions does the genitive case answer?

Exercise 2. Complete the table with the correct article form.

Answer 1:

  1. Indefinite article.
  2. Two: definite and indefinite. (The answer is possible: three, if we take into account the zero article, that is, its absence.)
  3. Definite article.
  4. Whose? Whose? Whose?

An article in German is a special part of speech that accompanies a noun. For many who begin to learn German, a very important part of speech - the article - is incomprehensible. There is no analogue in Russian for this part of speech. But in order to understand at least a little the importance of articles in the German language, you first need to understand why they are generally needed and what function they play.

In Russian we say: dogs and, dogs at, with dogs ohetc.

In German, we can say that the article plays the role of our ending. It shows the gender, case and number of the noun.

For instance:

These are dogs and... - Das ist einHund.
I see dogs at - Ich sehe einenHund.
He goes for a walk from dogs oh... - Er geht mit demHund spazieren.

As you can see, the endings in German do not change. The article is used instead of the endings. The German article is located directly before a noun... If there is a definition in front of a noun, the article is placed before the definition.

Das ist ein interessantes Buch. - This is an interesting book.

What are the articles in the German language?

There are 4 types of articles in German:

indefinite article

definite article

zero article

negative article

Declension table of the definite and indefinite article

There are four cases in German (Kasus):

Nominativ (nominative) wer? was? - who? what?

Akkusativ (accusative) wen? was? - whom? what?

Dativ (dative) wem? welcher Sache? - to whom? what?

Genitiv (genitive) wessen? - whom? what?

In this table, you see the forms of the definite and indefinite articles for masculine, neuter, feminine and for plural... Note that there is no indefinite article in the plural. The definite article in the plural is the same for all genders - DIE.

All nouns in German are spelledwith a capital letter and used with indefinite or definitearticle... Sometimes the article is not used.

In German, the article not only gives information about the certainty / indeterminacy of a noun, but also indicates the gender, number and case of a noun,bending over.

When to use which article?

On our site there is an opportunitypronounce any German text... To do this, simply highlight german text or a word anywhere on our site and click on the bottom right button "Play" (white triangle in a black circle). You will then hear the text spoken in German.

Indefinite article has the following forms:

ein - for masculine singular - ein Hund (dog)
ein - for the neuter singular - ein Loch (hole)
eine - for the feminine singular - eine Maus (mouse)

But don't forget that these articles are declining. If you have forgotten, then look again at the declination table of the articles.

In the plural, the designations of indefinite persons or objects are used without an article.

Indefinite article ein or eine used

  • with nouns,which we call for the first time:

Möchten Sie eine Banane? - Do you want ( one) banana?

Das ist ein Buch. - This is a book.
Das Buch ist sehr interessant. - This book is very interesting.

  • after the verb haben, if the noun is in the accusative case.

Ich habe einen Hund und eine Katze. -
I have ( one) dog and ( one) cat.

  • after speech circulation es gibt (yes, yes)

In meiner Stadt gibt es einen schönen Park und ein Theater. -
In my city there is (is) ( one) beautiful park and ( one)theatre.

  • when there is a comparison and the conjunction wie is used (how):

Sie singt wie ein Vogel. - She sings like a bird.

Definite article has the following forms:

der - for masculine singular - der Hund (dog)
das - for the neuter singular - das Loch (hole)
die - for the feminine singular - die Maus (mouse)
die - for the plural - die Hunde (dog)

The definite article der, die or das used

  • with nouns that we know, which we are not talking about for the first time.

Mhm, die Banane ist le cker. - Mmm, ( this) banana is delicious.

Das ist ein Buch. - This is a book.
Das Buch ist sehr interessant. - This book is very interesting.

  • when talking about a subject, the only possible in this situation:

Ist der Direktor schon da? - Is the director already here?

Mein Kind kommt bald aus der Schule. - My child will be home from school soon.

Director at the firm oneand the school the child goes to is also one.

  • when talking about the only subject of a kind:

a) the names of celestial bodies:

die Sonne - sun
der Mond - moon, month
die Erde - Earth
die Venus - Venus
der Merkur - Mercury, etc .;

b) the names of the countries of the world, seasons, months and days of the week:

der Norden - north
der Sommer - summer
der Januar - January
der Montag - Monday, etc .;

In combination Anfang, Ende, Mittethe article is not used with the name of the month:

Anfang Januar fahren wir ins Gebirge. - At the beginning of January we are going to the mountains.

c) the names of oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, for example:

der Stille Ozean - Pacific Ocean
das Schwarze Meer - Black Sea
der Don - Don
der Ladoga-See - Lake Ladoga;

d) names of streets, squares, avenues:

der Newski-Prospekt
der Roßplatz
die Käthe-Kolwitz-Straße, etc .;

e) names of mountains, winds, deserts:

der Ural - Ural
der Nordost - nord-ost
die Sahara - Sahara, etc .;

  • with a superlative adjective or ordinal:

die klügste Antwort is the smartest answer
der erste Schnee - first snow;


Use zero article just memorize it!

  • The article is absent at uncountable nounsand abstractconcepts - that which cannot be touched, seen.

For instance: Zeit - time, Lust - a wish, Glück - happiness, Hunger - hunger and similar words.

It’s true, it’s impossible to count!

Ich habe Zeit - I have time.
Ich habe Hunger - I am hungry.

Also used without an article

  • profession :

Ich bin Arzt - I am a doctor.
Meine freundin ist Informatikerin... - My friend is a computer scientist.
Er ist Student... - He is a student.

    nationalities

Ich bin Russin... - I am Russian.
Sie ist Spanierin... - She's Spanish.
Sie sind Chinese... - They are Chinese.

  • religious affiliations

Ich bin Katholik... - I am Catholic.
Seid Ihr Buddhisten? - Are you Buddhists?
Sie sind Christen... - They are Christians.

  • names of cities, countries and continents:

Ich komme aus Deutschland... - I am from Germany.
In einem Monat fahre ich nach Kiev... - In a month I will go to Kiev.

Exceptions: die Schweiz (Switzerland), die Türkei (Turkey), die USA (USA), der Iran (Iran), die Niederlande (Netherlands) and others

    materials and substances:

    das Haus aus Holz - a house made of wood
    die Tasche aus Leder - leather bag
    Trinken sie Kaffee gern? - Do you like coffee?

    diseases:

Ich habe Grippe... - I have the flu.
Er hat Fieber... - He has a fever.

    in plural, if in the singular a noun is used with an indefinite article (the absence of an article indicates an indefinite set of named objects):

    Da steht ein Haus. - Here is a house.
    Da stehen Häuser... - Here they are at home.

We strongly recommend that you memorize German nouns immediately with articles, as articles play an important role in the correct construction of sentences. For example, memorize the word "lamp" not as "Lampe" but as "die Lampe".

In addition to the definite and indefinite article, the German language also has a number of pronouns that carry information about the gender, number and case of a noun. These are demonstrative pronouns (dieser - this, jener - that, etc.), possessive pronouns (mein - mine, dein - yours, etc.) and a negative pronoun (negative article) kein... Such pronouns are used in place of the article and are declined as a definite or indefinite article.

Demonstrative pronouns are also declined as a definite articledieser - this, jener - that, solcher - such an interrogative pronoun

In German, a noun is used accompanied by a service word called article.

Article there are two types:

  1. Certain(der bestimmte Artikel)
  2. Hindefinite (der unbestimmte Artikel)

◊ By a certainthe article can determine the gender of a noun.

For instance:
m.r. - der Mann (male)
r. - die Frau (woman)
s.r. - das Kind (child)

Undefined the article, in contrast to the definite, clearly indicates only the feminine gender, since the forms of the masculine and neuter gender coincide.

Let's compare: einMann - einKind; but: eine Frau.

◊ The article can be used to determine the number of a noun. The plural is always - die.

das Zimmer (room) - die Zimmer (rooms)
der Schüler (apprentice) - dieSchüler (students)

Article also defines case noun.

In total, there are 4 cases in German, remember that in Russian there are 6.

Nominativ (N.) - nominative (Wer? Was? Who? What?)
Genitiv (G.) - genitive (Wessen? Whose?)
Dativ(D.) - dative (Wem? Wo? Wann? Woher? Who? What? Where when? Where did it come from?)
Akkusativ(A.) - accusative (Wen? Was? Wohin? Whom? What? Where?)

m. r s.r. r. plural
N. der Mann das Kind die Frau die Leute
G. des Mannes des Kindes der Frau der Leute
D. dem Mann dem Kind der Frau den Leuten
A. den Mann das Kind die Frau die Leute

m. r. s.r. r. plural

N. ein Mann ein Kind eine Frau -
G. eines Mannes eines Kindes einer Frau -
D. einem Mann einem Kind einer Frau -
A. einen Mann ein Kind eine Frau -

In plural indefinite article absent!

♦ Article into Russian does not translate.

However, if on certainthe article falls stress, it is translated by demonstrative pronouns this or that one depending on the general meaning.

For instance: ´Der Junge kann es schaffen. - This boy can do it.
Das ist ja eben ´das Mädchen. - This is exactly what it is that girl.

The indefinite article sometimes corresponds to pronouns in Russian one, some,eg:

Das hat mir ein Schriftsteller erzählt. - Told me this one writer.
Komm ans Telefon! Ein Mädchen ruft dich an. - Come to the phone. Is calling you some girl.

For almost all foreigners, articles are a nightmare. These small, but such insidious monsters have spoiled a lot of foreign blood. After all, their use before a noun is mandatory. And there are no general rules as to what gender this or that noun belongs to. There are definitions for the gender of nouns. But still I advise:

Memorize nouns with the article!

The good news is that there are times when the article is not used.

The article is missing:

  • at the first mention of the subject in the plural, that is, in the case when the singular is used indefinite article :

Ich sehe Kinder. - I see children.

Ich sehe ein Kind. - I see a child.

  • if the noun is preceded by a possessive, demonstrative, negative pronoun or cardinal number :

Sein Kuli liegt auf dem Tisch. - His pen is on the table.
Sie hat keine Wohnung. - She doesn't have an apartment.
Wir sind hier fünf Russen. - There are five of us Russians here.

  • before proper names, names of countries, cities, villages, continents :

Europa, Asien, Afrika, Deutschland, Russland, Berlin, Odessa

Berlin liegt am Fluss Spree. - Berlin is located on the Spree River.

♦ But, if the names of cities and countries are used with a definition, then they are preceded by a definite article:
Im heutigen Moskau werden viele neue Wohnviertel gebaut. - Many residential areas are being built in modern Moscow.

◊ Names of most countries and all cities (except der Gaag) neuter.

◊ Male and female gender includes: der Irak, der Sudan, der Kosovo, die Türkei, die Ukraine, die Schweiz, die Niederlande, die USA.

  • before nouns denoting professions, occupation, nationality as part of the nominal predicate; day of the week, season :

Sie ist Ärztin. - She is a doctor .
Er ist Russe. - He is Russian .
Heute ist Sonntag. - Today is Sunday.

♦ But, if a complex nominal predicate has definition, then in this case we use uncertainarticle:

Er ist ein guter Arzt. - He's a good doctor.

  • before the names of academic subjects :

Sie studiert Chemie. - She is studying chemistry.

  • before real nouns :

Er trinkt viel Kaffee ohne Zucker. - He drinks a lot of sugar-free coffee..

♦ But, if I mean a certain part of a substance, used certainarticle:

Die Milch, die du gestern gekauft hast, schmeckt nicht. - The milk you bought yesterday doesn't taste good.
Der Kaffee ist schon kalt. - The coffee is already cold.
Bas Brot von gestern ist schon trocken. - Yesterday's bread is already dry.

  • when applying, indicating an academic degree, position :

Professor Schmidt ist heute sehr beschäftigt. - Professor Schmidt is very busy today.
Herr Direktor, darf ich Sie bitten ... - Director, may I ask you ...

  • in steady phrases, expressions; sayings :

Alle wollten mit dieser Schauspielerin Bekanntschaft schließen. — Everybody wanted become acquainted with this actress.
Wissen ist Macht. - Knowledge is power.

Use of the indefinite article

Indefinite article used:

  • at the first mention of an unknown object or person

Dort geht eine Frau. - There comes a woman.

  • in a complex nominal predicate

Das ist ein Haus. - This is the house.

  • after the verbs haben, brauchen and the impersonal expression es gibt

Er hat einen Opa. - He has a grandfather.
Ich brauche ein Wörterbuch. - I need a dictionary.
Hier gibt es noch einen Platzt. - There is still room here.

  • before nouns in comparison function

Sie ist listig wie ein Fuchs. - She is as cunning as a fox.

♦ In all other cases, the definite article is used ( der, die, das - singular; die - plural).

We look.

Articles in German have important grammatical functions. They express gender, number, case and the category of definiteness and indefiniteness of the noun in front of which they stand.

Types of articles

German language articles divides for three genera: singular der or ein - for the masculine gender, das or ein - for average, die or eine - for feminine and for plural - article die.

Articles der, das, diecertain and ein, eineundefined... The category of certainty indicates that the subject being discussed is singled out from many others of its kind and is known to the interlocutors, i.e. contextual or unique.

Indefinite article in German carries information of novelty about the subject in this context, acquaints the interlocutors with a new object that has appeared in the field of communication and is replaced in repeated use by a definite article. For instance:

Ich sehe da ein Mädchen. Das Mädchen weint.
I see (some) girl there. She is crying.

It is easy to see what shades of information both articles convey: in the first case, the girl has just appeared in our context, we are not yet familiar with her, she is one of many for us, some kind of girl in other words. In the second sentence we already use definite article in germansince we continue to talk about that girl, a particular girl, who is standing there, so in translation we can safely replace the word “das Mädchen” simply with the word “she”, since it is already clear who we are talking about.

German article table

It is very important to understand the logic when the subject is not yet defined and when it already becomes certain, i.e. acquaintances, in each specific situation, otherwise even misunderstandings may arise in communicating with the Germans. You cannot use only definite or indefinite articles, both of which carry their grammatical and semantic functions and loads in the language system. Therefore, for clarity - below german article table for a start in the nominative case (who? what?).

Declination of articles in German by cases

We use the nominative case when we answer the question “who?”, “What?”, I.e. we call an object, in other words, it performs an action itself, being a subject. If the action is directed at an object, and it acts as the object of this action, then the noun begins to change in cases. Declination of articles in German it is inconceivable without the participation of the article, in contrast to Russian, where the very form of the word changes due to the end or other methods of word formation. Therefore, as "Our Father" you need to know the following declension tables of articles:

Declension of the definite article

Casus
Case
Maskulinum
Masculine gender
Neutrum
Neuter gender
Femininum
Feminine
Plural
Plural
Nominativ
Wer? Was? Who! What?
der das die die
Genitiv
Wessen? Whose?
des des der der
Dativ
Wem? Wo?
Who? Where?
dem dem der den
Akkusativ
Wen? Was? Wohin?
Whom? What? Where?
den das die die

Declension of the indefinite article

Casus
Case
Maskulinum
Masculine gender
Neutrum
Neuter gender
Femininum
Feminine
* Plural
Plural
Nominativ
Wer? Was? Who! What?
ein ein eine keine
Genitiv
Wessen? Whose?
eines eines einer keiner
Dativ
Wem? Wo?
Who? Where?
einem einem einer keinen
Akkusativ
Wen? Was? Wohin?
Whom? What? Where?
einen ein eine keine

* Since the indefinite article ein descended from the numeral eins \u003d one, then in the plural ein is inappropriate, but the negation is inclined in a similar way kein \u003d none, for plural - keine \u003d none.

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