Knowing A Nouns Gender
Masculine Forms | Masculine Endings | Foreign Masculine Endings | Masculine Meanings | Days, months... | Weather | Makes of Cars | Male Persons and Animals | Feminine Forms | -in Suffix | Feminine Endings | Foreign Feminine Endings | Feminine Meanings | Trees and Flowers | Dimensional Nouns | Female Persons and Animals | Neuter Forms | Neuter Endings | Collective Nouns with Ge- Prefix | Foreign Neuter Endings | Neuter Meanings | Chemical Elements | Other Parts of Speech | Countries, continents...
Probably the most difficult part about the German language is knowing which of the three genders the noun is, masculine, feminine, or neuter. There are several little tips and certain patterns that the nouns follow though. Of course, there are always exceptions, but for the most part, this lessons patterns hold true. Note though that these are only patterns, so there are exceptions. For the most part the gender of a noun must be learned and remembered, soon you will get a feel for which gender fits a certain noun; this feeling is Sprachgefühl (feeling of the language).
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| Masculine Forms:
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Nouns ending in -ich, -ig, -ing, and -ling are typically masculine:
| der Stich sting | der Strich line |
| der Käfig cage | der König king |
| der Ring ring | der Hering herring |
| der Zwilling twin | der Lehrling apprentice |
Exception: das Ding thing, das Camping camping
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Nouns of foreign origin ending with -an, -ast, -ent (except most of which end in -ment), -ismus, -ist, and -or are also masculine:
| der Ozean ocean | der Roman novel |
| der Palast palace | der Plast plastic |
| der Akzent accent | der Sozialismus socialism |
| der Komponist composer | der Motor motor |
Exceptions: das Organ organ, das Tor gate,goal
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| Masculine Meanings:
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Days, months, seasons, and points of the compass are all masculine:
| der Mittwoch Wednesday | der März March |
| der Frühling spring | der Winter winter |
| der Süden south | der Nordwesten north-west |
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Weather features are also masculine:
| der Regen rain | der Schnee snow |
| der Nebel fog | der Wind wind |
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Makes of cars as der Wagen (car) is masculine:
der Ford, der Porsche, der Mercedes
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Male persons and animals are also masculine:
| der Mann man | der Arzt doctor |
| der Sohn son | der Hund dog |
| der Löwe lion | der Fuchs fox |
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| Feminine Forms:
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Masculine nouns which add as -in suffix gives the female equivalent:
| die Ärztin woman doctor | die Freundin female friend |
| die Löwin lioness | die Engländerin Englishwoman |
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Nouns ending with -ei, -heit, -keit, -schaft, and -ung are feminine:
| die Arznei medicament | die Einzelheit detail |
| die Aufmerksamkeit attention | die Gemeinschaft community |
| die Erklärung explanation | die Forschung research |
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Nouns of foreign origin which end in -a, -anz, -enz, -ie, -ik, -ion, -tät, and -ur are also feminine:
| die Firma firm | die Eleganz elegance |
| die Intelligenz intelligence | die Melodie melody |
| die Republik republic | die Illusion illusion |
| die Qualität quality | die Figur figure |
Exceptions: das Sofa sofa, das Genie genius
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| Feminine Meanings:
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Most trees and flowers:
| die Buche beech | die Eiche oak |
| die Nelke carnation | die Tulpe tulip |
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Nouns formed from adjectives dealing with dimensions:
from breit (wide) - die Breite width
from dicht (dense) - die Dichte density
from dick (thick) - die Dicke thickness
from fern (far) - die Ferne distance
from groß (big) - die Größe size
from hoch (high) - die Höhe height
from lang (lang) - die Länge length
from schwer (heavy) - die Schwere weight
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Female persons and animals are also of course feminine:
| die Frau woman | die Tante aunt |
| die Tochter daughter | die Katze cat |
| die Kuh cow | die Sau sow |
Except: das Mädchen girl, das Fräulein young lady
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| Neuter Forms:
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Nouns ending with -lein, -chen, -nis, -tel, and -tum are all neuter:
| das Fräulein young lady | das Mädchen girl |
| das Ergebnis result | das Drittel third |
| das Christentum Christianity | das Eigentum property |
Exceptions: die Erlaubnis permission, die Kenntnis knowledge
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Collective nouns which begin with the prefix Ge-:
| das Geschirr crockery | das Gebäck baked goods |
| das Gemüse vegetables | das Geschrei shouting |
Exceptions: der Geruch smell, die Gemeinde congregation
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Names of foreign origin ending with -at, -ma, -ment, -um, and -ium are all neuter:
| das Quadrat square | das Komma comma |
| das Experiment experiment | das Album album |
| das Datum date | das Studium study |
Exceptions: der Salat salad, der Zement cement
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| Neuter Meanings:
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Chemical elements are neuter:
| das Eisen iron | das Chlor chlorine |
| das Jod iodine | das Kupfer copper |
Exceptions:
der Phosphor phosphorus, der Schwefel sulfur
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Other parts of speech and letters of the alphabet when used as nouns are always neuter:
Verb:
Das Schwimmen macht viel Spaß. - Swimming is a lot of fun.
Adjective:
Das Wichtige siehst du nicht. - You can't see the important thing.
Preposition:
Man muß das Für und Wider erwägen. - One must way the pros and cons.
Adverb:
Er sagte das endültige Nein. - He said the final no.
Conjunction:
Das Ob und Wie besprechen wir später. - We'll discuss later whether and how to proceed.
Pronoun:
Er hat mir das Du angeboten. - He suggested we call eachother "Du".
Letter:
Bei Callas war das hohe C unvergeßlich. - Callas' top C was unforgettable
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Most countries and continents, and all towns (except den Haag) are neuter:
das alte Wien old Vienna
das heutige Europa Europe today
Exceptions: countries ending with -e, -ei, and -z which are all feminine: die Türkei Turkey, die Schweiz Switzerland, die Simbabwe Zimbabwe
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