Articles & Gender (Nominative)
आर्टिकल और लिंग (कर्ता कारक)
Every German noun belongs to one of three grammatical genders — masculine, feminine, or neuter. Nouns having gender is already a familiar idea for Hindi speakers — German just adds a third gender on top.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
Grammatical gender: a familiar idea, now with three genders
der Mann (m.), die Frau (f.), das Kind (n.)
आदमी, औरत, बच्चा
Every Hindi noun is either masculine or feminine (लड़का/लड़की, मेज़/किताब), so remembering a noun's gender alongside the noun itself won't feel new. German takes it one step further: every noun is der (masculine), die (feminine), or das (neuter) — that third neuter gender doesn't exist in Hindi, so that's the genuinely new part. The assignment is often arbitrary, not logical — das Mädchen ("girl") is neuter, not feminine, because nouns ending in -chen are always neuter regardless of the person's actual gender. Always memorize each noun together with its article — "der Tisch," not just "Tisch."
The indefinite article: ein / eine
ein Mann, eine Frau, ein Kind
एक आदमी, एक औरत, एक बच्चा
In Hindi, एक doesn't change with gender (एक आदमी and एक औरत both keep the same एक), but in German both masculine and neuter nouns take ein; only feminine nouns take eine. So German's 'a/an' already carries gender information — a signal for the rest of the sentence, since any adjectives or pronouns referring to that noun must agree with the same gender.
A few gender patterns worth knowing
die Lampe (-e → usually fem.), das Mädchen (-chen → always neut.), der Lehrer (-er, person → usually masc.)
लैंप, लड़की, शिक्षक
Most German genders simply have to be memorized, but a few endings are reliable clues: nouns ending in -e are often feminine, diminutives ending in -chen or -lein are always neuter (regardless of meaning), and -er-ending nouns referring to a male person or a machine are often masculine. These patterns cover a good chunk of nouns and are worth learning as shortcuts, even though most nouns still need rote memorization.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
| German | Pronunciation | Hindi | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| der Tisch | dair tish | मेज़mez | the table |
| die Lampe | dee LAHM-peh | लैंपlaimp | the lamp |
| das Buch | dahs bookh | किताबkitāb | the book |
| der Mann | dair mahn | आदमीādmī | the man |
| die Frau | dee frow | औरतaurat | the woman |
| das Kind | dahs kint | बच्चाbaccā | the child |
| der Stuhl | dair shtool | कुर्सीkursī | the chair |
| die Tür | dee tewr | दरवाज़ाdarvāzā | the door |
| das Fenster | dahs FEN-ster | खिड़कीkhiṛkī | the window |
| die Sonne | dee ZON-neh | सूरजsūraj | the sun |