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The Definite German Articles: Der Die Das

The document discusses German definite and indefinite articles, pronouns, and verb conjugations. It explains that German has three definite articles (der, die, das) which indicate gender and are placed before nouns. The indefinite articles are ein/eine which are similar to the English 'a'. It also provides tables showing the conjugations of regular verbs like trinken as well as irregular verbs that change vowels like kommen. Finally, it discusses the conjugations of the verbs wollen and mögen.

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Krithiga S
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77 views

The Definite German Articles: Der Die Das

The document discusses German definite and indefinite articles, pronouns, and verb conjugations. It explains that German has three definite articles (der, die, das) which indicate gender and are placed before nouns. The indefinite articles are ein/eine which are similar to the English 'a'. It also provides tables showing the conjugations of regular verbs like trinken as well as irregular verbs that change vowels like kommen. Finally, it discusses the conjugations of the verbs wollen and mögen.

Uploaded by

Krithiga S
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Definite German Articles

A definite article (der Definitartikel) is that tiny word in English we


refer to as "the." In German, we have three: der, die, das. As in
English, they are also placed before the noun (or their modifying
adjectives). In German, however, each of the definite articles has a
gender.
In German we have three main articles (gender of nouns)
der (masculine),
die (feminine) and
das (neuter).
For example:

 der Mann (the man)


 die Frau (the woman)

but there are exceptions:

 das Mädchen (the girl)

The German Indefinite Articles

In English the indefinite articles include a and an. In German we have


two main indefinite articles: ein and eine. The indefinite articles:
ein/eine are used just like the English letter: a. We use eine/eine if
something is unknown, new or non-sepcfici and we use it only with
singular nouns.
Tip: if the article of the singular noun is die, you use eine. Otherwise
ein.
For example:
Die Frau = eine Frau
But: das Madchen = ein Madchen
In short:
Gender/Number Definite (the) Indefinite (a/an)
Masculine der ein
Feminine die eine
Neuter das ein
Plural die (no plural form

singular plural
First person ich wir
Second person du Ihr (informal)
sie Sie (formal)
Third person Er (masculine) Sie
Sie (feminine)
Es (neutral)

German Pronouns
1. Personal Pronouns:
Nominative Accusative Dative Genitive
Ich I Mich Me Mir Me, to Meiner Mine
me
Du You Dich You Dir You, to Deiner Yours
you
Er He Ihn Him Ihm Him, to seiner his
him
Sie She Sie Her Ihr Her, to Ihrer Hers
her
Es It Es It Ihm It, to it Seiner Its
Wir We Uns Us Uns Us, to Unser Ours
us
Ihr You Euch you Euch You, to Euer Yours
you
Sie They Sie Them Ihnen Them, Ihrer Theirs
to them
sie You Sie You Ihnen You, to Ihrer Yours
(formal) (formal) you (formal)
(formal)

Vowel change in some verbs


A few common verbs change the vowel in the second and third
person singular, here is the table for a verb without vowel change.
En. person person trinken lesen sprechen have
I Ich Trinke Lese spreche Ich habe
You (sg.) Du Trinkst Liest sprichst Du hast
He/she/it Er/sie/es Trinkt Liest Spricht Er/sie/es hat
We Wir Trinken Lesen sprechen Wir haben
You (pl.) Ihr trinkt Lest sprecht Ihr habt
they sie trinken lesen sprechen Sie haben

And here are three verbs with that vowel change. Notice that in the
first two verbs, the 2nd and 3rd person singular seem the same. This
is just because the du ending -st merged with the -s- of the verb
stem. This is unrelated to the vowel change.
Vowel change in some verbs
A few common verbs change the vowel in the second and third
person singular.

Normally the vowel will change:

 from a to ä
 from e to i(e)
person kommen heissen Gehen schlafen Sehen
Ich komme heisse Gehe Schlafe Sehe
Du kommst heissst Gehest Schläfst Siehst
Er/sie/es kommt heisst Gehet Schläft Sieht
Wir kommen heissen Gehen Schlafen Sehen
Ihr kommt heisst Geht Schlaft Seht
sie kommen heissen gehen Schlafen Sehen

Other verbs in this skill are

 fahren (to ride) — du fährst


 waschen (to wash) — du wäschst

In addition, when a verb stem ends in -s, second and third person


singular forms will look the same:

 lesen (to read) — du liest, er liest

This is because the -s- from du …-st and the -s from the verb stem merge.

Wollen and  mögen
Wollen (to want) and mögen (to like) follow a different conjugation system:

person wollen mogen


Ich Will Mag
Du Willst Magst
Er/sie/es will Mag
Wir wollen Mögen
Ihr wollt mögt
sie wollen Mögen

Mögen  is used for things, animals, and people:


 Ich mag Bier. (I like beer.)
 Sie mag Katzen. (She likes cats.)
 Wir mögen dich. (We like you.)
 Ihr mögt Bücher. (You like books.)

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