|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
The article |
|
| |
Articles always accompany a noun. They introduce noun phrases. We distinguish between the definite article der/die/das and the indefinite article ein.
There are other words that have the same or similar characteristics as the articles. Some pronouns – for example dieser, jener, mein, jeder, kein – also accompany nouns and introduce noun phrases.
The articles and these pronouns are called determiners.
Articles are inflected. They agree in gender, number and case with the noun they accompany.
The definite article is traditionally used to indicate whether a noun is masculine, feminine or neuter:
der Stuhl, die Bank, das Sofa
The use of the definite and the indefinite article as well as the absence of an article are determined by different criteria such as the the sentence structure, the semantic class of the noun, etc. The general rule says:
The definite article is used when the noun is clearly identified within its context. The indefinite article (or no article) is used when the context does not clearly identify the noun.
| indefinite: |
Ein Hund bellt. |
Hunde bellen. |
| definite: |
Der Hund bellt. |
Die Hunde bellen. |
The articles are described under the following topics:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
