Polyglot Dictionary

der

/deːɐ̯/

definite article A1

der (masc.) die (fem.) das (neut.)

Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.

defi Register Neutral Era Current Frequency Core Domain General Tone Neutral

Forms

nom. masculine
der
acc. masculine
den
nom./acc. feminine
die
nom./acc. neuter
das
nom./acc. plural
die
dat. masc./neuter
dem
dat. feminine
der
dat. plural
den
gen. masc./neuter
des
gen. feminine
der
gen. plural
der

Meaning

  1. the

    Every one of the sixteen forms above is the same dictionary word — the definite article changes shape for case, gender and number the way English "the" never does. This is the single most frequent word in written German by a wide margin.

    • Der Mann sieht die Frau.

      The man sees the woman.

      Nominative der (subject) next to accusative die (object) — same word, different job.

    • Ich gebe dem Mann das Buch.

      I give the man the book.

      Dative dem marks the man as the one receiving; accusative das marks the book being given.

Similar words

dass

A classic spelling trap: das (one of der's sixteen article forms, used for the neuter — "das Kind") is spelled with one s. dass is the conjunction, spelled with two — different words that happen to sound identical.

Usage notes

Learners usually meet der/die/das first as the way German marks a noun's gender (der Mann, die Frau, das Kind) — but the same three letters also carry case and number, giving the full sixteen-cell grid above. There is no shortcut: the forms simply have to be learned, the way am/is/are have to be learned for English "to be."

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