Lesson 4 of 69 · A1, Unit 2: Building blocks
Der, die, das
Every German noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter, and the word for 'the' shows which: der for masculine, die for feminine, das for neuter. The gender belongs to the word, not the thing — a table is der Tisch, a lamp is die Lampe, a book is das Buch.
The best habit you can build from day one: never learn a noun without its article. Learn der Tisch, not Tisch. The word for 'a' follows the same split: ein for masculine and neuter, eine for feminine.
By the end you can:
- use der, die, and das with common nouns
- use ein and eine for 'a'
- spot the noun endings that reliably signal a gender
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