Articles (Definite / Indefinite)

Question 1

What is an “article”?

Answer 1

An article is a word placed before a noun to show whether the noun refers to a particular / specific person, animal, place, thing, event or idea (definite article), or instead to one that is unspecified (indefinite article).

Question 2

What 3 conditions are necessary for an article to show agreement with the noun it precedes?

Answer 2

1. It matches the noun’s gender.
2. It matches the noun’s number.
3. It matches the noun’s case.

Question 3

How many definite articles exist in English?

Answer 3

One – “the.”

Question 4

How many definite articles exist in German?

Answer 4

There are 4 forms of the definite article for each of 4 cases – three singular forms (masculine, feminine and neuter) and one plural form. The plural form uses the same definite article as the feminine singular form in each of the four cases except for the dative case – in such instances, you need to rely on other indicators to determine the number of the noun. For example, in determining number in die Tür (the door) vs. die Türen (the doors), one must rely on the noun’s ending.

Question 5

How many indefinite articles exist in English?

Answer 5

Two – “a” and “an.”

Question 6

How many indefinite articles exist in German?

Answer 6

There are 3 forms of the indefinite article for each of 4 cases – three singular forms (masculine, feminine and neuter). Just as in English, the indefinite article is used only with singular nouns.