German Articles: der die das

In German we have three main articles (gender of nouns):

1. der (masculine),
2. die (feminine) and
3. das (neuter)

Tip: The grammatical gender doesn’t follow a logical set of rules. So, always learn German nouns and articles together.

This page is about the 3 German articles. If you want to start even easier, visit the page where I explain the German alphabet.

Table of Contents: German Articles

1. Listen: Examples with der die das
2. Q/A Listening Exercise: German Articles
3. How to find the correct German articles
4. Der Die Das Quiz

1. Listen: Examples with der, die, das

How to learn with part A of the exercise

1. Have a look at the picture.
2. Read and listen a few times.
3. Repeat after the speaker.
4. Make sure that you imitate the pronunciation of the speaker.
5. After a few repetitions go on to part B (farther below).

Tip: Always try to imagine the situations in your mind; it will help you to remember the words!

der Mann
the man

Der Mann liest.
The man is reading.

die Frau
the woman

Die Frau isst.
The woman is eating.

der Junge
the boy

Der Junge trinkt.
The boy is drinking.

das Mädchen*
the girl

Das Mädchen schreibt.
The girl is writing.

Note: *das Mädchen

Maybe you wonder why we don’t use the article die when we use the word Mädchen (girl). After all it is a female person, right?

Well, I know it is strange and I exaplain it here chen in German – Diminutive.

2. Q/A Listening Exercise: German Articles

How to learn with part B of the exercise

Question and Answer Part:

1. Read and listen a few times to the questions and answers.
2. Answer the questions in the pauses (you may look also at the answers).
3. After a few times don’t look at the answers anymore.
4. Make sure that you imitate the pronunciation of my voice.
5. Repeat the lesson until you can answer the questions easily.

Question:

Wer liest – der Mann oder die Frau? 
Who reads – the man or the woman?

Answer:
Der Mann
Der Mann liest.
The man reads. / The man is reading.

Wer isst – die Frau oder der Mann?
Who eats – the woman or the man?

Die Frau
Die Frau isst.
The woman eats. / The woman is eating.

Wer trinkt – das Mädchen oder der Junge?
Who drinks – the girl or the boy?

Der Junge
Der Junge trinkt.
The boy drinks. / The boy is drinking.

Und wer schreibt – die Frau oder das Mädchen?
And who writes – the woman or the girl?

Das Mädchen
Das Mädchen schreibt.
The girl writes. / The girl is writing.

You should also know what the German plural article is.!

3. How to find the correct German articles

The best way to get familiar to the gender of the German articles is to listening a lot to the German language.

I don’t recommend learning words by heart but if you like to memorize words you should never learn just the nouns!

Always try to remember also the main articles der, die and das.

The grammatical gender in German doesn’t follow a logical set of rules but there are some noun endings (suffixes) which give us a hint.

However, be careful, it does not always work!

By the way, have a look at the English endings too. A lot of English and German words are similar.

German Nouns with Article: der (list)

-ling

der Häftling (the prisoner)
der Frühling (the spring)
der Flüchtling (the refugee)
der Säugling (the infant)
der Lehrling (the apprentice)
der Zwilling (the twin)

-ist

der Optimist (the optimist)
der Pianist (the pianist)
der Polizist (the policeman)
der Spezialist (the specialist)

-or

der Humor (the humor)
der Doktor (the doctor)
der Tresor (the safe)
der Professor (the professor)
der Motor (the motor)

-ismus

der Egoismus (the egoism)
der Tourismus (the tourism)
der Pazifismus (the pacifism)

-er

der Hörer (the receiver)
der Jäger (the hunter)
der Käfer (the bug, the beetle)
der Körper (the body)
der Tiger (the tiger)
der Bäcker (the baker)
der Donner (the thunder)

German Nouns with Article: die (list)

-keit

die Müdigkeit (the tiredness)
die Süßigkeit (the sweetness, the candy)
die Fähigkeit (the ability)
die Häufigkeit (the frequency)
die Flüssigkeit (the liquid, the fluid)
die Geschwindigkeit (the speed, the velocity)
die Fröhlichkeit (the joyfulness)

-ion

die Portion (the portion)
die Region (the region)
die Station (the station)
die Reaktion (the reaction)
die Situation (the situation)
die Nation (the nation)
die Tradition (the tradition) 

-heit

die Feigheit (the cowardice)
die Schönheit (the beauty)
die Klugheit (the cleverness)
die Blödheit (the stupidity)
die Dummheit (the foolishness)

-enz

die Intelligenz (the intelligence)
die Konsequenz (the consequence)
die Frequenz (the frequency)
die Existenz (the existence)
die Differenz (the difference)
die Tendenz (the tendency)

-tät

die Normalität (the normality)
die Spezialität (the speciality)
die Elektrizität (the electricity)
die Flexibilität (the flexibility)
die Kontinuität (the continuity)

-ung

die Änderung (the change)
die Abteilung (the department)
die Einladung (the invitation)
die Anleitung (the instruction)
die Forschung (the research)

German Nouns with Article: das (list) 

-nis

das Schulzeugnis (the school certificate)
das Gedächtnis (the memory)
das Erlebnis (the experience)
das Geheimnis (the secret)
das Hindernis (the obstacle)

-ment

das Dokument (the document)
das Sortiment (the assortment)
das Zement (the cement)
das Komplement (the complement)
das Medikament (the medication, the medicine)
das Instrument (the instrument)

4. Der Die Das Quiz – Click the start button

Take it now and see how good you are!

der die das – Quiz

How good are you? 

Test your knowledge of the articles. If you can’t answer all questions correctly, read the text on this page carefully. Then do the test again. Your result will improve immediately – I promise!

For German Classes