FGL: Gender - Masculine, Feminine and Neuter
Gender - Masculine, Feminine and Neuter
There are a few general rules that can help you figure out the grammatical gender in German. Although these rules are helpful, you should always learn a noun along with the definite article der/die/das (the). As you will see below, there are quite a few rules and many exceptions to those rules. However, it does help to be aware of them and that the grammatical genders are not completely random.
Note: If the word does not fit in any of these categories, pick "der" (masculine).
General Rules
| Gender Rules for German Nouns | ||
|
MASCULINE |
FEMININE |
NEUTER |
|
Male individuals, citizens, and professions (based on traditional roles - these are not necessarily based on current standards): der Mann, der Vater, der Amerikaner, der Lehrer, der Chef, der Psychologe Days of the week, months, seasons, and compass points der Montag, der April, der Winter, der Norden BUT: das Frühjahr Weather Features der Schnee, der Regen, der Wind, der Tau Nouns ending in -ig, -ling, -ich, -or, -us: der Pfennig, der Schmetterling, der Teppich, der Tutor, der Kommunismus |
Female individuals, citizens, and professions (based on traditional roles - these are not necessarily based on current standards): die Frau, die Schwester, die Kanadierin, die Ärztin, die Kandidatin Most nouns ending in -e: die Blume, die Straße, die Karte BUT: der Name, das Auge Nouns ending in -ei, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ung, -tät, -nis, -thek die Malerei, die Slowakei, die Schönheit, die Eitelkeit, die Landschaft, die Erzählung, die Universität, die Erkenntnis, die Bibliothek BUT: der Papagei Nouns derived from foreign words, ending in -anz, -enz, -ie, -ok, -ion, -ur die Toleranz, die Frequenz, die Sympathie, die Musik, die Information, die Kultur Cardinal numbers used as a noun: die Eins, die Dreizehn, die Million BUT: das Hundert, das Tausend |
Names of continents, countries, islands, places used without an article unless with an adjective: Europa, Österreich, Helgoland, das schöne Sachsen, unser liebes Deutschland Nouns derived from verb infinitives: das Schlafen, das Essen, das Einkaufen Diminutives ending in -chen, -lein: das Mädchen, das Männlein Many collective nouns beginning with Ge-: das Geschirr, das Gepäck, das Gebirge, das Geflügel Nouns derived from foreign words ending in -tum, -um, -ment das Heldentum, das Studium, das Datum, das Instrument Letters of the alphabet: das Ypsilon, das große A |
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