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German 1 Unit 2: Nouns, gender and cases
German nouns have three genders, and articles change with the noun's role in the sentence (its case).
Covers: der, die, das, plurals, capitalizing nouns, nominative and accusative cases, ein/eine
Study guide
Every German noun has one of three genders, shown by its article: der (masculine), die (feminine) or das (neuter). Gender is often not logical (das Mädchen, "the girl," is neuter), so learn each noun with its article. Some endings help: -ung, -heit, -keit and -schaft are feminine; -chen and -lein are neuter; and most nouns ending in -er for people are masculine.
All nouns are capitalized in German, not just proper nouns: der Hund, die Katze, das Buch.
Plurals are formed in several ways, and the plural article is always die. Common patterns include adding -e (der Hund → die Hunde), -er often with an umlaut (das Buch → die Bücher), -n or -en (die Lampe → die Lampen), -s (das Auto → die Autos), or no change (der Lehrer → die Lehrer). Learn the plural with each noun.
German uses cases to show a noun's role in a sentence. The nominative case is for the subject: Der Hund schläft. The accusative case is for the direct object: Ich sehe den Hund. In the accusative, only masculine articles change: der → den and ein → einen. Feminine, neuter and plural articles stay the same (die, das, die). Some prepositions, like für, ohne, gegen and durch, always take the accusative.
The indefinite articles are ein (masculine and neuter) and eine (feminine), with einen in the masculine accusative. The negative article kein works the same way: Ich habe keinen Hund (I don't have a dog).
The dative case marks the indirect object and follows certain prepositions. Its articles are dem (masculine and neuter), der (feminine) and den (plural, with -n added to the noun): Ich gebe dem Lehrer das Buch, mit den Kindern. Ein and kein become einem, einer and einem. Aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von and zu always take the dative: mit dem Bus, nach der Schule, zum Bahnhof (zu + dem), beim Arzt (bei + dem).
The prepositions an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor and zwischen take the dative for location (wo?) and the accusative for movement toward a place (wohin?): Ich bin in der Küche, but Ich gehe in die Küche. Note the contractions im (in dem) and ins (in das). A few common verbs take a dative object: helfen, danken, gefallen, gehören and antworten (Ich helfe dir, Das Buch gehört mir). Time expressions without a preposition use the accusative: jeden Tag, nächsten Montag, den ganzen Abend.
Key ideas
- Every noun is capitalized: der Hund, die Katze, das Haus.
- Three genders: der (masculine), die (feminine), das (neuter). Plural is always die.
- Nominative = subject; accusative = direct object.
- Only masculine changes in the accusative: der → den, ein → einen.
- Learn each noun with its article; plural forms vary (Hunde, Katzen, Häuser).
Formulas and rules
Common mistakes
- Forgetting to capitalize nouns.
- Not changing der to den for a masculine direct object.
Words to know
- der Mann
- the man
- die Frau
- the woman
- das Kind
- the child
- das Mädchen
- the girl
- der Junge
- the boy
- der Freund
- the friend (male)
- die Freundin
- the friend (female)
- der Lehrer
- the teacher (male)
- die Lehrerin
- the teacher (female)
- der Schüler
- the student (male)
- die Schülerin
- the student (female)
- der Hund
- the dog
- die Katze
- the cat
- das Pferd
- the horse
- der Vogel
- the bird
- der Fisch
- the fish
- die Maus
- the mouse
- die Hunde
- the dogs
- das Haus
- the house
- die Wohnung
- the apartment
- das Zimmer
- the room
- die Küche
- the kitchen
- das Bett
- the bed
- das Sofa
- the sofa
- der Garten
- the yard / garden
- das Auto
- the car
- die Stadt
- the city
- die Schule
- the school
- die Blume
- the flower
- der Tisch
- the table
- der Stuhl
- the chair
- die Lampe
- the lamp
- das Fenster
- the window
- die Tür
- the door
- das Buch
- the book
- die Bücher
- the books
- der Bleistift
- the pencil
- das Lineal
- the ruler
- der Taschenrechner
- the calculator
- die Tafel
- the board
Sample practice questions
27 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.
Which article goes with "Haus"?
- der
- das
- die
- den
Show the answer and steps
Answer: B) das
- Haus is neuter.
- das Haus.
What is the article for any plural noun in the nominative?
- das
- die
- den
- der
Show the answer and steps
Answer: B) die
- All plurals use die in the nominative.
"Ich sehe ___ Hund." (der Hund, direct object)
- der
- das
- den
- dem
Show the answer and steps
Answer: C) den
- Hund is the direct object → accusative.
- Masculine der → den.