The three definite articles: der, die, das

In German a distinction is made between masculine, feminine and neuter nouns. The grammatical gender of a noun can be seen in its accompanying article. Since in most cases there are no rules as to which gender a noun has, it is necessary to learn the nouns together with their articles. The article comes before the noun.

Masculine nouns have the definite article der.

Wo ist der Stift? – Der Stift ist hier.

Feminine nouns have the definite article die.

Wo ist die Brille? – Die Brille ist hier.

Neuter nouns have the definite article das.

Wo ist das Buch? – Das Buch ist hier.

In the plural all nouns have the definite article die.

Wo sind die Stifte? – Die Stifte sind hier.

Wo sind die Brillen? – Die Brillen sind hier.

Wo sind die Bücher? – Die Bücher sind hier.

The definite article is used in particular when talking about an object or person that is already known to the other person.

Lisa says: Wo ist die Brille?

The listener understands that she is not looking for just any pair of glasses. She is looking for a particular pair, namely her own.