In this lesson, you will learn all about German Noun Gender. Nouns are words that name living creatures, objects, places, ideas, or processes. In written German, nouns can be easily identified because they are capitalized. A noun is typically preceded by an article or another determiner, and often includes one or more adjectives or a longer adjectival phrase. Together, these elements form a noun phrase.
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Gender
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
Other clues to gender- helpful tips
Gender
All German nouns are divided up into three categories, called genders: MASCULINE, FEMININE and NEUTER.
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | NEUTER |
| der Mann der Hund der Mantel | die Frau die Katze die Hose | das Kind das Pferd das Kleid |
Nouns denoting male animals or humans are usually masculine, and nouns denoting females humans or humans are usually feminine but not always.
The names for the genders are misleading:
die Wache sentry – is feminine
das Mädchen girl – is neuter
die Person person – is feminine
der Mensch human being – is masculine
To confuse matters further, words denoting things can be masculine, feminine or neuter and there is often no logical explanation at all.
For example:
der Apfel apple der Computer computer
die Birne pear die Diskette diskette
das Obst fruit das Faxgerät fax machine
The gender of each noun affects the endings of any articles or adjectives used with that noun, and you should therefore:
- Always check the gender of a noun in your dictionary. It will normally be indicated by m ( masculine), f (feminine), or n (neuter);
- Always learn a noun with its definite article – learning it aloud helps you remember it!
Also, the ending of a noun or what it means might give you a hint about its gender, but there are exceptions to this rule.
Masculine nouns
The following nouns are usually MASCULINE.
- Nouns with the following meanings:
| Male humans and animals | der Vater | der Fahrer | der Hund |
| Seasons, months, days of the week | der Winter | der April | der Montag |
| time of day | der Morgen | der Mittag | der Abend |
| Wind and weather | der Wind | der Regen | der Schnee |
| geographic direction | der Norden | der Osten | der Westen |
| Makes of car | der Opel | der BMW | der Golf |
| Alcohol | der Kognak | der Rum | BUT: das Bier |
- Nouns with the following endings:
| Ending | Example | Ending | Example |
| -ant | der Demonstrant | -ismus | der Kapitalismus |
| -ast | der Kontrast | -ling | der Feigling |
| -ich | der Teppich | -or | der Traktor |
| -ig | der Honig | -us | der Rhythmus |
There is a learning technique that might help some of you. Combine all the endings into one word and try to remember them that way. Here is an example: Der Ig-ling-or-ismus.
Click on:
Grammar Content
Feminine nouns
The following nouns are usually FEMININE:
- Nouns with the following meanings:
| Female humans and animals | die Mutter | die Lehrerin | die Giraffe | BUT: das Mädchen |
| Airplanes, motorbikes, ships | die Boeing | die Titanik | die Yamaha | BUT: der Jumbo |
| Cigarettes | die Malboro | die Camel | ||
| Rivers in Germany | die Donau | die Elbe | die Mosel | BUT: der Rhein, der Main |
| Creams and toothpastes | die Nivea | die Colgate | die Weleda | |
| Fruit | die Ananas | die Birne | die Kiwi | BUT: der Apfel |
| Trees and flowers | die Eiche | die Kiefer | die Rose | |
| Names of numerals | die Null | die Eins | die Hundert | die Million |
- Nouns with the following endings:
| Ending | Example | Ending | Example |
| -a | die Pizza | -schaft | die Freundschaft |
| -anz/-enz | die Toleranz/ die Lizenz | -sion/-tion | die Information |
| -ei | die Konditorei | -tät | die Universität |
| -heit/-keit | die Freiheit | -ung | die Wohnung |
| -ie | die Biologie | -ur | die Natur |
| -in | die Kollegin | -ik | die Politik |
Here’s how to learn all the feminine endings at once: Die Heit-ung-keit-ei-schaft-tion-(i)tät-ik
Neuter nouns
The following nouns are usually NEUTER.
- Nouns with the following meanings:
| Young persons and animals | das Baby | das Kind | das Lamm | |
| Continents, countries, towns | das Europa | das Asien | das alte Rom | BUT: die Arktis die Antarktis |
| Letter of the alphabet, musical notes | das A | das Ypsilon | das hohe C | |
| Colors | das Blau | das Rosa | ||
| Languages | das Deutsch(e) | das Serbisch(e) | das Englisch(e) | |
| Nouns with the prefix Ge- | das Gebirge | das Geschäft | ||
| Nouns formed from verbs in the infinitive | das Essen | das Trinken | das Rauchen | |
| Nouns formed from adjectives | das Neue | das Schöne | ||
| Other parts of speech used as nouns | das Du | das Gehen | das neue Deutsch |
- Nouns with the following endings:
| Ending | Example | Ending | Example |
| -chen | das Mädchen | -tel | das Viertel |
| -lein | das Büchlein | -tum | das Datum, das Bürgertum BUT: der Irrtum, der Reichtum |
| -ma | das Thema | -um | das Museum |
| -ment | das Medikament |
- The endings “-chen” and “-lein” are used to make words smaller or cuter in German.
(deminutives)
das Häuschen – small house
das Mäuslein – little mouse - All neuter endings in one place: Das Tum-chen-ma-ment-um-lein.
Other clues to gender – Helpful tips
Some other clues to gender are useful, though there are more exceptions.
- Nouns ending in –e are over 90% feminine
For example:
die Lampe – lamp
die Sahne – cream
die Reise – journey
die ….
Most exceptions are masculine nouns for people.
For example:
der Junge - Nouns with the prefix ge- are over 90 % neuter
For example:
das Gebäude – building
das Gesetz – law
das Gespräch – conversation
das Gewicht – weight
There are a few common exceptions: die Geschichte (story), der Geruch (smell)
- 75% of nouns ending in –nis are neuter
For example:
das Bedürfnis – need
das Ergebnis – result
das Erlebnis – experience
The rest of nouns are feminine. The most common are: die (Er)kenntnis (knowledge), die Erlaubnis (permission)
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