Nominative Case and Articles

A German noun is often used together with an article (der Artikel).

The article helps show:

• the gender of the noun;
• its number;
• its case;
• whether we are talking about something new or something already known.

Compare:

Das ist ein Zimmer. Das Zimmer ist hell.

The room is mentioned for the first time in the first sentence, so ein is used. In the second sentence, it is already clear which room we mean, so das is used.

In this lesson, we look at article forms in the nominative case — Nominativ.

What is the Nominative?

The Nominative is the basic form of a noun. It is most commonly used for the subject — the person or thing that performs the action or is described in the sentence.

The subject answers the questions who? or what?

• Der Mann arbeitet. — The man is working.
• Die Frau lernt Deutsch. — The woman is learning German.
• Das Kind spielt. — The child is playing.
• Die Kinder schlafen. — The children are sleeping.

In all of these sentences, the highlighted nouns are in the Nominative.

Gender of nouns

German nouns have grammatical gender.

In the singular, there are three genders:

• masculine — der
• feminine — die
• neuter — das

In the plural, the definite article for all nouns is die.

The gender of a German noun cannot always be determined from its meaning. It is therefore best to learn a new noun together with its article from the beginning:

der Tisch, die Lampe, das Heft.

The definite article

The definite article (der bestimmte Artikel) is used when we are talking about a specific person, thing, or concept, or one that is already known.

In the Nominative, the forms are:

For example:

Hier steht ein Tisch. Der Tisch ist rund.

In the first sentence, the table is mentioned for the first time. In the second sentence, it is already clear which table we mean.

The definite article is also used when the context makes it clear exactly which person or thing is meant:

• Der Lehrer kommt in die Klasse.
• Die Sonne scheint.

The indefinite article

The indefinite article (der unbestimmte Artikel) is used when a person or thing is mentioned for the first time or has not yet been identified more precisely.

In the Nominative, the forms are:

Notice that the masculine and neuter forms are the same — ein. Feminine nouns use eine.

• Das ist ein Tisch.
• Das ist eine Lampe.
• Das ist ein Buch.

There is no plural form of ein / eine.

• Hier stehen Tische.
• Im Zimmer sind Stühle.
• Auf dem Tisch liegen Bücher.

A new object and an already known object

The choice between the indefinite and definite article often depends on the context.

When something is mentioned for the first time, the indefinite article is usually used:

Dort steht ein Mann.

When the same person is mentioned again, the definite article is used:

Der Mann wartet auf den Bus.

Another example:

Anna hat ein Buch. Das Buch ist interessant.

First, ein Buch introduces a new object. After that, it is already known and becomes das Buch.

Nouns after sein

The Nominative is not only used for the subject.

After the verb sein, a noun or noun phrase that names or describes the subject is also in the Nominative.

• Das ist ein Hund.
• Das ist die Lehrerin.
• Paul ist mein Bruder.
• Anna ist Ärztin.

In the sentence Das ist ein Hund, both das and ein Hund refer to the same thing, so Nominative forms are used.

When there is no article

Sometimes a noun is used without an article. This is called the zero article (der Nullartikel).

Profession or nationality after sein

If we simply state a person’s profession or nationality, no article is normally used:

• Anna ist Ärztin.
• Paul ist Student.
• Er ist Deutscher.

If the noun is described in more detail, an indefinite article is often used:

• Anna ist eine gute Ärztin.
• Paul ist ein fleißiger Student.

Indefinite plural

The indefinite article has no plural form. Therefore, plural nouns are used without an article when we are talking about unspecified people or things:

• Hier stehen Tische.
• Im Garten spielen Kinder.
• Auf dem Tisch liegen Bücher.

Compare:

Hier steht ein Tisch.

Hier stehen Tische.

Nouns are capitalized

All German nouns begin with a capital letter:

• der Tisch
• die Lampe
• das Buch
• ein Student
• eine Ärztin

This often makes nouns easy to recognize in a German sentence.

Remember

In the Nominative, the article forms are:

The Nominative is mainly used for the subject, and also for a noun after sein when it names or describes the subject.

The definite article usually refers to something already known or specific:

der Tisch, die Lampe, das Buch

The indefinite article often introduces something new:

ein Tisch, eine Lampe, ein Buch

It is best to learn a new noun together with its article from the beginning:

der Tisch — die Lampe — das Buch