Articles & plurals
Learn each noun with its article: der (masculine), die (feminine), das (neuter). All plural nouns use die in the nominative. Plural forms must be learned with the noun.
Understand the idea
A German noun has grammatical gender. Gender belongs to the word, not necessarily to the person or object it describes. Learn a new noun as an article-and-noun pair, then add its plural. A plural can change the ending, the vowel, both, or neither; there is no single plural ending you can attach to every noun.
Build it step by step
First decide whether the noun is singular or plural. For a singular noun, recall its dictionary gender. Then check its job in the sentence: the dictionary article may need a case ending. The plural article is die in nominative and accusative, but becomes den in dative and der in genitive. The tables below separate gender from case so you can see both decisions.
See it in a sentence
Das Buch ist interessant.
Ein Kind, zwei Kinder.
Quick reference
On a small screen, swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der | die | das | die |
| Accusative | den | die | das | die |
| Dative | dem | der | dem | den |
| Genitive | des | der | des | der |
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ein | eine | ein |
| Accusative | einen | eine | ein |
| Dative | einem | einer | einem |
| Genitive | eines | einer | eines |
A useful memory aid
Keep three pieces together on a vocabulary card: das Buch, die Bücher, book. Say the article aloud every time you review the noun.
A common trap
Do not apply the nominative article everywhere. Das stays das in accusative, but a masculine der becomes den. Also avoid assuming that every word ending in -e is feminine; endings are clues, not complete rules.