Multilingual articles (definite)

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Here you can see an overview to definite articles in many different languages. Feel free to add more.

Contents 1 Afrikaans 2 Albanian 3 Arabic 4 Armenian 5 Breton 6 Bulgarian 7 Catalan 8 Dalecarlian 9 Dutch 10 English 11 Esperanto 12 Faroese 13 French 14 Galician 15 German 16 Greek 17 Hungarian 18 Hebrew 19 Icelandic 20 Irish 21 Italian 22 Latin 23 Luxembourgish 24 Norwegian 25 Portuguese 26 Russian 27 Spanish 28 Scots-Gaelic 29 Swedish

Afrikaans

• all cases: die

Albanian

Albanian definite articles are affixes attached to the noun

• feminine singular: nom -a*, acc -n, obl -s
• feminine plural: nom -t, acc -t, obl -ve
• masculine singular: nom -i* , acc -in*, obl -it*
• masculine plural: nom -t, acc -t, obl -ve

special cases:

• feminine singular a causes changes to nouns that end in a vowel:
  

shoqe (friend/girlfriend)-> shoqja (the friend/girlfriend)

• masculine singular -i/-in/-it becomes -u/-un/-ut when the noun ends in k, g, q, gj:
  

shok (friend/boyfriend)-> shoku (the friend/boyfriend)

Arabic

• universal, "al" (alif [hamza, fat-ha], lam [sukun])

 the l is pronouced before 'lunar letters' 
 it assimilates to the following letter (making it double) before 'solar letters'

lunar:ق �? ح خ ج ي و ب م ك ه غ ع ء
solar:ض ص د ذ ش س ت ث ط ظ ر ز ن ل
the paradigmatic examples are:

    the sun: al-shams pronounced ashshams ('sh' is a solar letter)
    the moon: al-qamar pronounced alqamar (q is a lunar letter)

Notice also how this is written when using full vocalized script:
With lunar letters lam take the sukun
With solar letters lam loses its sukun (and nothing is written above), while a shadda (doubling) is written on following letter:
the sun: أَلشَّمْس�?
the moon: أَلْقَمَر�?
The a of the article becomes wasla (=it is not pronounced) if not at the beginning of a sentence.

"Al" is not only added to the definite noun, but also to the adjectives and adverbs associated with it. The noun itself can also be made definite without "al" by having one of the personal-pronoun endings, or by being part of a genitive construction which is otherwise markedly definite. Any adjectives or adverbs modifying it retains the article "al."

See also Arabic: Articles

Armenian

Armenian employs suffixes for its definite articles

• -ә (all nouns ending in a consonant)
• -n (all nouns ending in a vowel)
• -n (all case forms ending in a vowel)

special cases:

• -ә becomes -n if the following word begins with a vowel
  

e.g. Sa mardә kartum ē (This man is reading), but Sa mardn ē kartum (ibid.)

Breton

• al before a word begining by l.
• an before a word begining by t, d, n, a vowel or a mute h.
• ar before a word begining by other consonants.

special cases:

e (in) merges with the definite article:

• e+al = el
• e+an = en
• e+ar = er

Bulgarian

Unlike other Slavic languages, Bulgarian (along with Macedonian) marks not for case, but for definiteness/indefiniteness.

MASCULINE

• nominative singular -ът (all words ending in a hard consonant)
• nominative singular -�?т (all words ending in a soft consonant)
• nominative singular -тa (all words ending in a or �?)
• nominative singular -тo (all words ending in o)
• oblique singular -а (all words ending in a hard consonant)
• oblique singular -�? (all words ending in a soft consonant)
• oblique singular Ø (all words ending in a, �? or o)
• plural (both cases) -тe (all words)

FEMININE

• singular -тa
• plural -тe

NEUTER

• singular -тo
• plural -тa

Note: Bulgarian nouns do not mark case, except for the masculine, which has two cases (nominative and oblique [i.e. accusative/dative/genitive]).

Catalan

• feminine singular: la, before a vowel l'
• feminine plural: les
• masculine singular: el, before a vowel l'
• masculine plural: els
• special article masculine singular: en (used before proper names)
• special article feminine singular: na (used before proper names)

special cases:

• de + el = del, a + el = al
• de + els = dels, a + el = als

Dalecarlian

The definite article exists only as a suffix.

• masculine singular: nom. -in, acc. -in, dat. -im, gen. -imis,
• masculine plural: nom. -iñer, acc. -iñ, dat. -iñ, gen. -is
• feminine singular: nom. -iñ, acc. -iñ, dat. -ini, gen. -inis
• feminine plural: nom. -iñer, acc. -iñer, dat. -iñ, gen. -is
• neuter singular: nom. -iþ, acc. -iþ, dat. -iñ, gen. -is
• neuter plural: nom. -iñ, acc. -iñ, dat. -iñ, gen. -is

Together with adjectives, the definite article suffix may be combined with a demonstrative pronoun, e.g., han-dar ('that'), hisin-hjar ('this') etc. Examples: Han-dar ljóti djørgen ('the/that ugly spider'), Hisin-hjar bragni herin ('the/this brown hare').

Dutch

• feminine/masculine singular: de
• neuter singular: het
• plural: de

English

The only definite article in English is the.

Esperanto

The only definite article in Esperanto is la.

Faroese

• feminine singular: nom. hin, gen. hinnar, dat. hini, acc. hina
• feminine plural: nom. hinar, gen. hinna, dat. hinum, acc. hinar
• masculine singular: nom. hin, gen. hins, dat. hinum, acc. hin
• masculine plural: nom. hinir, gen. hinna, dat. hinum, acc. hinar
• neuter singular: nom. hitt, gen. hins, dat. hinum, acc. hitt
• neuter plural: nom. hini, gen. hinna, dat. hinum, acc. hini

French

• feminine singular: la, before vowel or mute H l'
• masculine singular: le, before vowel or mute H l'
• plural: les

special cases:

• de + le = du, de + les = des
• à + le = au, à + les = aux

Galician

• feminine singular: a
• masculine singular: o
• feminine plural: as
• masculine plural: os

Special cases: preposition + article

• a + a = á
• a + o = ó
• a + as = ás
• a + os = ós/aos

• de + a = da
• de + o = do
• de + as = das
• de + os = dos

• en + a = na
• en + o = no
• en + as = nas
• en + os = nos

• con + a = coa
• con + o = co
• con + as = coas
• con + os = cos

• por + a = pola
• por + o = polo
• por + as = polas
• por + os = polos

German

• feminine singular: nom. die, gen. der, dat. der, acc. die
• masculine singular: nom. der, gen. des, dat. dem, acc. den
• neuter singular: nom. das, gen. des, dat. dem, acc. das
• plural: nom. die, gen. der, dat. den, acc. die

Greek

• feminine singular: nom. η, gen. της, acc. τη(ν)
• feminine plural: nom. οι, gen. των, acc. τις
• masculine singular: nom. ο, gen. του, acc. το(ν)
• masculine plural: nom. οι, gen. των, acc. τους
• neuter singular: nom. το, gen. του, acc. το
• neuter plural: nom. τα, gen. των, acc. τα

The �? in brackets (accusative singular fem./masc.) is dropped if the following word starts with Β, Γ, Δ, Ζ, Θ, Λ, Μ (excepting ΜΠ), �? (excepting �?Τ and NK), Ρ, Φ or Χ. If the preposition σε precedes an article starting with Τ, the vowel of the preposition is lost. Examples: σε + το(ν) = στο(ν), σε + του = στου

Hungarian

• before a consonant: a
• before a vowel: az

Hebrew

The definite article is the letter ה - ha. It connects with the word that follows it. If you have a noun and an adjective in a sentence you must use ה with both of them. Example: The pretty girl - הבחורה היפה (habachura hayafa). If you use ה only with the noun it changes the meaning to "the girl is pretty" - הבחורה יפה (habachura yafa).

Icelandic

The definite article exists primarily as a suffix.

• feminine singular: nom. -in, gen. -innar, acc. -ina, dat. -inni
• feminine plural: nom. -nar, gen. -nna, acc. -nar, dat. -num
• masculine singular: nom. -inn, gen. -ins, acc. -inn, dat. -num
• masculine plural: nom. -nir, gen. -nna, acc. -na, dat. -num
• neuter singular: nom. -ið, gen. -ins, acc. -ið, dat. -nu
• neuter plural: nom. -in, gen. -nna, acc. -in, dat. -num

if the noun in the dative ends with -m, this m is omitted.

If the noun is preceded by an adjective, the affix is not used; the adjective is preceded by the following forms:

• feminine singular: nom. hin, gen. hinnar, acc. hina, dat. hinni
• feminine plural: nom. hinar, gen. hinna, acc. hinar, dat. hinum
• masculine singular: nom. hinn, gen. hins, acc. hinn, dat. hinum
• masculine plural: nom. hinir, gen. hinna, acc. hina, dat. hinum
• neuter singular: nom. hið, gen. hins, acc. hið, dat. hinu
• neuter plural: nom. hin, gen. hnna, acc. hin, dat. hinum

Irish

NOMINATIVE
masculine: singular

• an ( + t- when the following noun begins with a vowel)
  

e.g. madra (dog)-> an madra (the dog), uisce (water)-> an t-uisce (the water)

feminine: singular

• an
  

+ lenition (séimhiú) when the following noun begins with: b, c, f, g, m, p
e.g. bean (woman)-> an bhean (the woman)
+ t- when words begin with: s + vowel, sl or sr
e.g. saoirse (freedom)-> an tsaoirse (the freedom), slí (way)-> an tslí (the way)

Plural (masculine and feminine)

• na
  

+ h- when noun begins with a vowel
e.g. fir (men) -> na fir, ainmhithe (animals) -> na hainmhithe

GENITIVE
Masculine: singular

• an
  

+ lenition when the following noun begins with: b, c, f, g, m, p
e.g. cait (genitive of 'cat')-> an chait (of the cat)
+ t- when the following noun begins with: s + vowel, sl or sr
e.g. seanathar (genitive of seanathair [grandfather])-> an tseanathar (of the grandfather)

Feminine: singular

• na
  

+ h- when the following noun begins with a vowel
e.g. áite (genitive of áit [place])-> na h-áite (of the place)

Plural (Masculine and Feminine)

• na
  

+ eclipsis (urú) when the following noun begins with a consonant
e.g. ballaí (plural genitive of 'balla' [wall])-> na mballaí (of the wall)
+ n- when following noun begins with a vowel
e.g. éan (genitive plural of 'éan' [bird])-> na n-éan (of the bird)

DATIVE
Singular (Masculine and Feminine)

• an

+ eclipsis (urú) when the following noun begins with a consonant
e.g. balla (wall)-> [ag] an mballa (to the wall)
+ t- when the following feminine noun begins with: s + vowel, sl or sr
e.g. sráid (street)-> [ag] an tsráid (to the street)

Plural (masculine and feminine)

• na
  

+ h- when noun begins with a vowel
e.g. fir (men) -> [ag] na fir, ainmhithe (animals) -> [ag] na hainmhithe

special cases:

• i (in) + def. art.
  • i + masculine singular "an" = san + lenition
    
  • i + masculine singular "an" = sa
    
  • i + plural "na" = sna
    

e.g. balla (wall)-> san bhalla (in the wall), saoirse (freedom)-> sa saoirse (in freedom), ballaí (wall)-> sna ballaí (in the wall)

• ó (from) + def. art.
  • ó + masculine singular "an" = ón + eclipsis
    
  • ó + feminine singular "an" = ón
    

e.g. balla (wall)-> ón mballa (from the wall), slí (way)-> ón slí (from the way)

• le (with) + def. art.
  • le + masculine singular "an" = leis an + eclipsis
    
  • le + feminine singular "an" = leis an
  • le + plural "na" = leis na

e.g. balla (wall)-> leis an mballa (with the wall), saoirse (freedom)-> leis an saoirse (with freedom), ballaí (wall)-> leis na ballaí (in the wall)

Italian

• feminine singular: la, before a vowel l'
• feminine plural: le
• masculine singular:

         always but the followings: il, 
         before a vowel l', 
         before z,x,pn,ps,gn, or 's impura' (S followed by any other consonant) lo

• masculine plural:

         i whenever il is used in singular,
         gli whenever lo or l' is used in singular.

special cases:

• di + la = della, a + la = alla, con + la = colla, in + la = nella
• di + l' = dell', a + l' = all', con + l' = coll', in + l' = nell'
• di + il = del, a + il = al, con + il = col, in + le = nel
• di + lo = dello, a + lo = allo, con + lo = collo, in + lo = nello

• di + i = dei, a + i = ai, con + i = coi, in + i = nei
• di + gli = degli, a + gli = agli, con + gli = cogli, in + gli = negli
• di + le = delle, a + le = alle, con + le = colle, in + le = nelle

in a similar way da, su, and formerly per+article

Latin

Latin does not have definite articles.

Luxembourgish

I'm afraid I'm not 100% sure about those articles...

• feminine singular: nominative/accusative d', dative der
• masculine singular: nominative/accusative de(n), dative de(m)
• neuter singular: d'
• plural: nominative d', dative/accusative de(n)

The consonant in brackets is dropped if the following letter is not D, H, N, T, Z, a vowel or a punctuation mark.

See also Luxembourgish articles

Norwegian

The definite article exists primarily as a suffix.

• feminine: -a
• masculine: -en
• neuter: -et
• plural, all genders: -(e)ne

if the noun in sing. indef. form ends with -er, the bracketed e in the plural ending is omitted.
An ending -e will be removed before appending the suffix.

If the noun is preceded by an adjective, we use a more elaborate construct. The suffix remains, but in addition the adjective (or adjective phrase) is preceded by the definite article as a word.

• feminine/masculine: den
• neuter: det
• plural, all genders: de

See Norwegian articles for details and examples.

Portuguese

• feminine: singular a, plural as
• masculine: singular o, plural os

See also the page on Portuguese articles.

Russian

Russian does not have any articles.

Spanish

• feminine: singular la, plural las
• masculine: singular el, plural los

special cases:

• de + el = del, a + el = al

Scots-Gaelic

NOMINATIVE

feminine: singular

• a' + lenition + b, c, g, m, and p
• an t- + s, sl, sr, and sn
• an + lenition + f
• an + vowel and + d, n, t, l, r, sg, sp and st

masculine: singular

• am + labial sounds - b, f, m, and p
• an t- + vowel
• an + otherwise

both genders: plural

• na

GENITIVE

feminine: singular

• na + consonant
• na h- + vowel

masculine: singular

• a' + lenition + b, c, g, m, and p
• an + lenition + f
• an t- + s, sl, sr, and sn
• an + otherwise

both genders: plural

• nam + labial sounds - b, f, m, and p
• nan + otherwise

DATIVE (PREPOSITIONAL)

feminine: singular

• same as NOMINATIVE

masculine: singular

• same as feminine nominative

both genders: plural

• na + consonant
• na h- + vowel

Swedish

The definite article exists primarily as a suffix.

• uter singular: nom. -en, gen. -ens,
• uter plural: nom. -na, gen. -nas,
• neuter singular: nom. -et, gen. -ets,
• neuter plural: nom. -en(a), gen. -en(a)s.

If the noun is preceeded by an adjective, the construction is a bit more complicated. The suffix is still attached at the noun, but in addition the adjective is preceeded by either

• uter: den,
• neuter: det or
• plural: de.

Examples: den stora mannen ('the big man'), det stora barnet ('the big child'), de stora kvinnorna ('the big women').

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