German Articles and Their Endings in All Four Cases

The German article changes with gender, number and case. That looks like a lot of forms, but the same small set of endings repeats across articles, so it's less work than it seems.

The definite article: der, die, das

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

The indefinite article: ein, eine

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	ein	eine	ein	(none)
Accusative	einen	eine	ein	(none)
Dative	einem	einer	einem	(none)
Genitive	eines	einer	eines	(none)

Kein (no, not a), mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer and Ihr decline exactly like ein, and they do have plural forms: keine, meine, and so on.

Spotting the pattern

Notice how much stays the same:

• Feminine and plural nominative and accusative are identical (die).
• Neuter nominative and accusative are identical (das).
• Only the masculine changes between nominative and accusative: der → den, ein → einen.
• Dative ends in -m for masculine and neuter (dem, einem), -r for feminine (der, einer) and -n for plural (den).
• Genitive is -s for masculine and neuter (des, eines) and -r for feminine and plural (der, einer).

A helpful summary: the masculine accusative den/einen, the dative dem/der/dem/den, and the genitive des/der/des/der are the forms to memorise.

Examples in action

• Nominative: Der Mann liest. — The man reads.
• Accusative: Ich sehe den Mann. — I see the man.
• Dative: Ich gebe dem Mann das Buch. — I give the man the book.
• Genitive: Das Auto des Mannes. — The man's car.

Noun endings

Nouns change slightly, too:

• Masculine and neuter genitive singular: add -s or -es: des Mannes, des Hauses, des Kindes.
• Dative plural: add -n (unless it already ends in -n or -s): den Kindern.
• Weak masculine nouns (n-nouns): add -n or -en in all cases except the nominative singular: der Junge → den Jungen, dem Jungen, der Student → den Studenten.

When to use each case (quick guide)

• Nominative: the subject, and after sein and werden.
• Accusative: the direct object, and after certain prepositions (für, durch, ohne).
• Dative: the indirect object, after certain prepositions (mit, nach, bei), and with some verbs (helfen, danken).
• Genitive: possession, and after a few prepositions (wegen, während). In spoken German, von + dative often replaces it: das Auto von dem Mann.

Contractions

Some prepositions merge with articles: im (in dem), am (an dem), zum (zu dem), zur (zu der), ins (in das), beim (bei dem), vom (von dem).

Learning tips

1. Learn the tables as a grid, and fill them from memory.
2. Start with nominative and accusative, the most common.
3. Notice repeats: most of the work is in the masculine.
4. Use example sentences for each case.
5. Practise with real text: underline articles and identify the case.

Common mistakes

• Using nominative for objects: Ich sehe der Mann.
• Forgetting the dative plural -n.
• Mixing up gender.

Dictionary tip

A dictionary gives gender, and shows verbs with their case requirements (helfen + Dat). That saves you from guessing.

Practice

Write four sentences with the same noun in each case, and check the articles.

Check gender and cases with English German Dictionary →