Exercise 8: Nouns and Gender (Nomen und Genus)

Grammatical gender: a quick recap

Every German noun has a gender Grammatical category of nouns in German: masculine, feminine or neuter; not necessarily related to biological sex. Gender is shown by the definite article in the nominative singular:

• der for masculine nouns
• die for feminine nouns
• das for neuter nouns

This is different from English, where objects and concepts are usually 'it'. In German, a table is masculine, a door is feminine, and a window is neuter:

Golden rule: whenever you learn a new noun, learn it together with its article. This saves a huge amount of work later with adjective endings and cases.

der, die, das in context

The article must match the noun's gender. Here are typical singular examples:

Notice that the grammatical gender does not depend on meaning alone. Das Mädchen (the girl) is neuter, and die Person (the person) is feminine even when referring to a man.

Male people, professions and agents

Many masculine nouns belong to predictable groups:

Male people, professions and agents

Days, months and seasons

Compass points and weather

Common masculine endings

• -er → der Computer, der Keller
• -en → der Hafen, der Boden
• -ig → der Honig, der Käfig
• -ling → der Frühling, der Zwilling
• -or / -eur → der Motor, der Friseur
• -ismus → der Tourismus, der Kapitalismus

Female people and professions

Feminine nouns also follow strong patterns:

Female people and professions

Rivers

Common feminine endings

• -e → die Blume, die Straße, die Schule
• -ung → die Wohnung, die Übung
• -heit / -keit → die Freiheit, die Möglichkeit
• -schaft → die Freundschaft, die Mannschaft
• -tion / -sion → die Information, die Diskussion
• -ei → die Bäckerei, die Druckerei
• -in → die Freundin, die Studentin
• -ie / -ik / -ur → die Biologie, die Musik, die Natur

Young creatures

Neuter nouns are often the easiest group to recognise:

Young creatures

Metals and chemical elements

Infinitives used as nouns

Common neuter endings

• -chen → das Mädchen, das Brötchen (diminutives)
• -lein → das Büchlein, das Männlein
• -ment → das Instrument, das Experiment
• -tum / -um → das Eigentum, das Museum

Same word, different gender, different meaning

Some German nouns change meaning when their gender changes. The article is the only signal in speech:

Tips and mnemonics

Use these memory tricks while you build your vocabulary:

• Learn the article with the noun. Do not learn 'Tisch = table'; learn 'der Tisch = the table'.
• Colour-code your flashcards: blue for der, red for die, green for das.
• Endings are reliable clues. Nouns ending in -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -tion or -ei are almost always feminine.
• Diminutives are neuter. Any word ending in -chen or -lein is das.
• Compounds keep the gender of the last part. Der Kühlschrank is masculine because the last part is der Schrank.
• Do not trust biology. Das Mädchen and das Fräulein are neuter because of the diminutive ending.

Summary table

These patterns help a lot, but there are exceptions. Always check a good dictionary when in doubt.

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