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Nouns
Nouns have a gender (grammatical gender):
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der Tag (the day) – ein Maskulinum (masculine) |
die Woche (the week) – ein Femininum (feminine) |
das Jahr (the year) – ein Neutrum (neuter) |
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The gender is most clearly defined by the definite article (accompanying word of the noun): der ≠ die ≠ das, but it is not so clear when looking at the indefinite article: ein Tag – eine Woche – ein Jahr.
Most nouns can be both singular and plural. The plural definite article for all nouns is always die.
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der Tag – die Tage, die Woche – die Wochen, das Jahr – die Jahre
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A plural indefinite article does not exist:
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ein Tag – Tage, eine Woche – Wochen, ein Jahr – Jahre |
Das waren schöne Tage/Wochen/Jahre. |
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Singular nouns are used in the gender of the three personal pronouns of the third person singular, plural nouns always use the third person plural:
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der/ein Tag – er, die/eine Woche – sie, das/ein Jahr – es |
(die) Tage – sie, (die) Wochen – sie, (die) Jahre – sie |
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Nouns are declined (declension); that means they are put in different cases. The article usually gets an additional ending; the singular noun may get one in the genitive.
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| Singular |
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Masculine |
Feminine |
Neuter |
| Nominative |
(Wer?/Was?) |
der/ein Tag |
die/eine Woche |
das/ein Jahr |
| Accusative |
(Wen?/Was?) |
den/einen Tag |
die/eine Woche |
das/ein Jahr |
| Dative |
(Wem?) |
dem/einem Tag |
der/einer Woche |
dem/einem Jahr |
| Genitive |
(Wessen?) |
des/eines Tages |
der/einer Woche |
des/eines Jahr(e)s |
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Genitive masculine and neuter singular nouns usually receive the ending -s or -es (-es is always added to nouns ending in -s, -ss, -ß, -x, -tsch, -z, and
often
to one syllable nouns or nouns with -sch and -st).
Some masculine nouns require an -n or -en ending in the accusative, dative and genitive. Only very few nouns (masculine, neuter) require the ending -ns or -ens in the genitive.
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| Nominativ |
der/ein Löwe |
der/ein Student |
der/ein Name |
das/ein Herz |
| Accusative |
den/einen Löwen |
den/einen Studenten |
den/einen Namen |
das/ein Herz |
| Dative |
dem/einem Löwen |
dem/einem Studenten |
dem/einem Namen |
dem/einem Herz(en) |
| Genitive |
des/eines Löwen |
des/eines Studenten |
des/eines Namens |
des/eines Herzens |
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| Plural |
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| Nominative |
die Wochen |
die Autos |
die Tage |
die Häuser |
| Accusative |
die Wochen |
die Autos |
die Tage |
die Häuser |
| Dative |
den Wochen |
den Autos |
den Tagen |
den Häusern |
| Genitive |
der Wochen |
der Autos |
der Tage |
der Häuser |
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Plural nouns add
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– the ending -n (die Woche – die Wochen), or
– the ending -en (das Bett – die Betten), or
– the ending -s (das Auto – die Autos)
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in each of the four cases. The definite article takes on different forms. |
However, |
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– the ending -e (der Tag - die Tage),
also with an umlaut (der Stuhl - die Stühle),
– the ending -er (das Feld - die Felder), also with an umlaut (das Haus - die Häuser) and
– nouns without an ending (der Kater - die Kater), also with an umlaut (der Vater - die Väter)
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only occur in the nominative, accusative and genitive. The dative of these nouns adds an additional -n ending.
The genitive singular and the nominative plural form of nouns are listed in most good dictionaries.
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The nominative noun functions as the subject of the sentence (Der Mantel ist blau.) or a part of the predicate (Das ist ein Mantel.). The accusative and the dative nouns function as the object of the sentence after many verbs (Sie hat/trägt einen Mantel. Wir hören dir zu.) Prepositions may require use of the accusative, dative and genitive.
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The negation of the indefinite article ein/eine/ein is the negative article kein/keine/kein. It takes on the same form as ein, e.g.: |
Nominative Singular: Das ist eine/keine Hose. |
Akkusative Singular: Sie trägt einen/keinen Rock. |
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The nominative and accusative plural is keine, e.g.:
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Dort sind keine Autos. Ich sehe keine Autos.
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Country Names and Articles
German nouns have a grammatical gender. They are
| • masculine (der Tag), |
| • feminine (die Woche), or |
• neuter (das Jahr). |
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The article can take on different forms in German because German has a case system.
| • Der, den, dem or des can come before masculine nouns; |
| • die or der can come before feminine nouns; and |
• das, dem, or des can come before neuter nouns. |
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You will learn everything about grammatical gender and cases in the course of this program.
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In some cases, der can refer to a feminine noun, e.g.
| • when a preposition is in front of the noun (in der Schweiz) or |
| • when two nouns are combined with the meaning “of” (die Hauptstadt der Schweiz). |
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Most country names are neuter and are used without articles (Deutschland, Österreich, Frankreich). Some are feminine (die Schweiz, die Türkei), masculine (der Iran) or plural (die USA). These country names are used with a definite article. |
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