Demonstrative determiners are used to refer more specifically to someone or something or to differentiate a particular person or object from a larger group. For example, when Harry discovers a few strands of gray hair, he can point to one of them and use the word "diese" - indicating "this one" or "that one". The demonstrative determiners answer the questions "Welcher?", "Welche?" and "Welches?" ("which one" in the three gender classes respectively).
| Masculine: | Welcher Mann? – Dieser Mann. | |
| Feminine: | Welche Waffe? – Diese Waffe. | |
| Neuter: | Welches Haar? – Dieses Haar. |
As with definite and indefinite articles, the demonstrative articles precede the nouns they modify and are governed by the gender, number and case of those nouns.
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Demonstrative articles follow the same patter of declension as definite articles. The following chart shows how they are inflected according to gender and case.
| Masculine | Feminine | |||
| Nominative | dieser Mann der Mann |
diese Waffe die Waffe |
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| Accusative | diesen Mann den Mann |
diese Waffe die Waffe |
||
| Dative | diesem Mann dem Mann |
dieser Waffe der Waffe |
||
| Genitive | dieses Mannes des Mannes |
dieser Waffe der Waffe |
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| Neuter | Plural | |||
| Nominative | dieses Haar das Haar |
diese Tabletten die Tabletten |
||
| Accusative | dieses Haar das Haar |
diese Tabletten die Tabletten |
||
| Dative | einem Haar dem Haar |
diesen Tabletten den Tabletten |
||
| Genitive | dieses Haares des Haares |
dieser Tabletten der Tabletten |