Hacks To Remember German Noun Gender : Der, Die, Das

Are you struggling to memorize German Noun Gender: Der, Die, Das? If yes then don’t worry because after reading this article you have able to quickly learn German nouns with their articles.

You are advised to makes notes of these in your notebook so that you can revise them on regular interval.

Introduction

Nouns are known as Nomen is German language. All the Nomen have a fixed gender which is known as Genus. In German, we have three Genders: Der is used for Maskuline, Die is used for Feminin, and Das is used for Neutral/Neutrum.

Easiest Hack to Guess German Gender : 46% of German nouns are feminine, 34% are masculine and 20% are neuter. These percentage might keep changing but feminine is the most common gender.

It is recommended to not reach a situation where you have to guess gender. It’s always better to learn them.

How do you decide gender in German?

Gender of any noun in German language is decided on the basis of three factors:

  • On the basis of Biological Gender
  • On the basis of Meaning
  • On the basis of Ending/Suffix

Masculine German Noun:

Here is the table for categories that take Masculine noun:

CategoryExampleException
Männliche Personen (Males)Der Mann, Der Vater, Der Sohn
(Husband, father, Son)
Männliche Beruf (Male Jobs)Der Artz, Der Maler, Der Kellner
(doctor, Painter, waiter)
Wochentag/ Wochentage ( Week day/ days)Der Montag, Der Dienstag, Der Mittwoch
(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)
Die Wochentage
(The weekdays)
Monate (Months)Der Januar, Der April, Der Dezember
(January, April, December)
Tageszeiten (times of day)Der tag, Der Abend, Der Morgen, Der Mittag
(day, evening, morning, midday)
Die Nacht
(The Night)
Jahreszeiten (seasons)Der Sommer, Der Winder, Der Herbst,
Der frühling
(Summer, Winder, Autumn, Spring)
Das frühjahr
(The spring)
Himmelsrichtungen
(Cardinal Points)
Der Norden, Der Süden, Der Osten,
Der Westen
(North, South, East, West)
Wetter (Weather)Der Regen, Der Schnee, Der Sonnenschein
(Rain, snow, sunshine)
Die Wolke
(The Cloud)
Automarken (Car Brands)Der Porsche, Der Audi, Der BMW, Der Volkswagen
Alkohol (Alcohol)Der Rum, Der Wiskey, Der Wein, Der SektDas Bier
(The Beer)
Währungen (Currencies)Der Euro, Der Dollar, Der PesoDie Rupie (the ruppee), Das Pfund (the pound)

Masculine German Noun Endings

ProbabilityEndingsExamplesException
Always-lingDer frühling, Der Schmetterlin, Der Zwilling
(The Spring, The Butterfly, The Twin)
Das Training, Das Marketing, Das Recycling
-ichDer Teppich (Carpet), der Teich
(pond)
Das Reich (kingdom)
-ismusDer Tourismus, Der Kapitalismus
(Tourism, capitalism)
Mostly-erDer Koffer (Suitcase), Der Spieler (player)
-antDer Immigrant, Der Elefant
(The Immigrant, The Elephant)
-istDer Tourist, Der Kapitalist(The Capitalist)
-igDer Honig, Der König
(The Honey, The King)
-orDer Motor, Der Auto
(The Engine, The Author)
Das Labor (the laboratory)
-ärDer millionär, Der Pensionär
(The millionaire, The pensioner)
Das Militär (The military)
-eurDer Amateur, Der Ingenieur
(The amateur, the engineer)
-entDer Advent, Der Präsident
(Advent, The President)

Some Common exceptions For Maskulin (Der):

Das Deodrant, Das Prozent, Das Talent, Der/Das Event, Das Croissan

(The deodorant, the percent, the talent, the event, the croissant)

Feminine German Noun: Die

Here is the table for categories that take Feminine noun:

CategoryExampleException
Feminine Personen (Female)Die Mutter, Die Schwester, Die Tante
(The mother, The sister, The aunt)
Feminine Beruf (Female Jobs)Die Ärztin, Die Kellnerin, Die Malerin
(The doctor, the waitress, the painter)
Pflanze und Bäume (plant and trees)Die Rosa, Die Palme, Die Blume, Die Kaktee
(The Pink, The Palm, The Flower, The Cacti)
Der Kaktus
(The Cactus)
Obst (Fruits)Die Kiwi, Die Orange, Die Banane
(The Kiwi, The Orange, The Banana)
Der Apfel
(Apples)
Zahlen (Numbers)Die Eins, Die Sieben, Die Zehn
(One, Seven, Ten)
Schiffe, Flugzeug, Motor
(ship, airplane, engine)
Die Yahmaha, Die Boeing, Die F19, Die Titanic

Feminine German Noun Endings (Die)

ProbabilityEndingExampleException
Always-heitDie Gesundheit, Die Krankheit, Die Schönheit
(The Health, The Sickness, The Beauty)
-keitDie Pünktlichkeit, Die Süßigkeit, Die Wirklichkeit
(The punctuality, the sweetness, The reality)
-schaftDie Freundschaft, Die Wissenschaft, Die Eigenschaft
(The Friendship, The Science, The Property)
Mostly-eiDie bäckerei, Die türkei, Die Metzgerei
(The bakery, Turkey, The butcher shop)
-ungDie prüfung, Die Kleidung, Die Bildung
(The exam, The clothes, The education)
-ionDie lektion, Die Region, Die Aktion
(The Lesson, The Region, The Action)
Das Stadion, Der Spion, Der Skorpion, Der Lampion
(The stadium, the spy, the scorpion, the lantern)
-ikDie Musik, Die Politik, Die Mathematik
(The Music, The Politics, The Mathematics)
Der Katholik, Der Atlantik, Das Plastik, Der Pazifik
(The Catholic, The Atlantic, The Plastic, The Pacific)
-urDie Natur, Die Kultur, Die Temperatur
(The nature, the culture, the temperature)
Das Abitur, Das Futur, Das Flur
(The Abitur, the future tense, the corridor)
-tätDie universität, Die Aktivität, Die Realität
(The university, The activity, The reality)
-enzDie Konferenz, Die Distanz, Die Differenz
(The conference, the distance, the difference)

Neutral German Noun: Das

CategoryExampleException
PersonenDas Kind, Das Ding
(The kid, the thing)
Substantivierte AdjektivDas Rot, Das Unbekannte
(The Red, The Unknown)
Substantivierte VerbDas Sprechen, Das Laufen, Das Schreiben
(Speaking, Running, Writing)
Stoffe/MaterialDas Holz, Das Glas, Das Gold
(The wood, the glass, the gold)
BuchstabenDas A, Das B, Das C

Neutral German Noun Endings (Das)

ProbabilityEndingExampleException
Always-leinDas Kindlein, Das Fräulein, Das Männlein
(The little child, the young lady, the little man)
-chenDas Mädchen,, Das Brötchen, Das Häuschen
(The girl, the bun, the cottage)
Mostly-maDas Thema, Das Drama, Das Klima
(The Theme, The Drama, The Climate)
Die Firma
(the Company)
-mentDas Medikament, Das Experiment, Das Dokument
(The drug, The experiment, The document)
-um, tumDas Eigentum, Das Datum, Das Wachstum
(The Property, The Date, The Growth)
Der Reichtum
(Wealth)
-ichtDas Licht, Das Gesicht, Das Gericht
(The Light, The Face, The Judgment)
-ingDas Shopping, Das Training
-ettDas Bett, Das Fett (The bed, The Fat)

Other German Related Resources

Netzwerk A1 Kursbuch Full Solution

Netzwerk A2 Kursbuch Full Solution

German Vocabulary Quiz

German Sample Paper

Best Podcasts for learning German 

FAQ Related to Guessing The German Articles

What are the 3 genders in Germany?

All the German nouns are categorized into 3 categories i.e., masculine (der), feminine (die)and neutral (das).

How do you identify a noun in German?

In German language, you can’t just take randomly reference for gender of nouns according to your native language. For identifying nouns you have to learn either by heart or through some hacks which is given above.

What is the most common gender in German?

46% of German nouns are feminine, 34% are masculine and 20% are neuter. These percentage might keep changing but feminine is the most common gender.

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