Now you can ask why there is the limitation of "basic form", why not just giving them to you. Well, the answer is simple: there is more than one form (we discussed this issue in connection with the pronouns (chapter 4.2). The German language does have the forms of direct (Accusative), indirect object (Dative) and the possessive object (Genitive) which you'll find is also important in relation to the articles.

Later on we will have a look at the complete German declination. For now the basic forms in masculine, feminine and neutral version should be enough. Especially as there are only a few rules and a lot of not very logic definitions. The tomato is feminine (die Tomate), the baby is neutral (das Baby) and a girl is neutral (das Mädchen), too. But again there is only one way to get behind the "secrets of German grammar" - step by step.

singular masculine  der Mann Hut Kühlschrank  the man hat refridgerator   feminine  die Frau Tasse Straße  the woman cup street   neutral  das Kind Auto Fenster  the child car window   plural   masculine  die Männer Hüte Kühlschränke  the men hats refridgerator   feminine  die Frauen Tassen Straßen  the women cups streets   neutral  die Kinder Autos Fenster  the children cars windows

Ok, here you see that there are three definite articles der (masculine), die (feminine), das (neutral).

Mann = man Männer = men Frau = woman Frauen = women Kind = child Kinder = childre Kühlschrank = refridgerator Kühlschränke = refridgerators Straße = street Straßen = streets Tasse = cup Tassen = cups

The way the plural is formed seems to be quite irregular. We'll have a look at it a bit later in formation of plural.

Now we already can form little phrases.