In German, every noun has its own article. There are masculine, feminine, and middle (Neutrum) gender. Like German nouns, the old English used to have grammatically gendered nouns until the Middle English period (1150 – 1500). However, in the modern English, the gender for nouns is not applicable anymore.
German gender stats
Here are the most common article for German nouns,
- 39% of the nouns are masculine with the article DER.
- 35% of the nouns are feminine with the article DIE.
- 26% of the nouns are neuter with the article DAS.
The grammatical gender is unique for the nouns in the singular. For the plural nouns, a common article “die” is used (translated as “the”).
Tips on how to determine the gender of a German noun:
How to determine Masculine nouns (der)
Here are some rules to find the masculine genders in German for singular nouns.
| Rule | Examples |
|---|---|
| Male people, male animals | der Mann, der Professor, der Polizist, der Hund, der Stier |
| Many instruments / devices | der Computer, der Toaster, der Kugelschreiber(when these words end in er or or) |
| Days, months, seasons, most weather elements | der Tag, der Freitag, der September, der Winter, der Schnee, der Regen, der Nebel [=fog] |
| Points on the compass | der Norden, der Süden, der Osten, der Westen |
| Makes (names) of cars | der Volkswagen/der VW, der Porsche, der Toyota BUT NOTE: das Auto |
| Most non-German rivers | der Mississippi, der Mekong, der Nil, der Amazonas |
| -ig | der Honig [=honey], der Käfig [=cage] |
| -ich | der Strich |
| -ling | der Schwächling [=weakling] |
| -ant | der Elefant, der Lieferant [=supplier] |
| -us | der Idealismus, der Kommunismus, der Zirkus |
| Most nouns ending in -en | der Garten, der Hafen [=harbour], der Ofen [=oven] |
How to determine Feminine nouns (die)
Generally, two-syllable nouns ending in –e, such as Sonne and Blume, take the feminine article die. When the “Female people nouns” end in -in, they will form plurals ending in -innen.
| Rule | Examples |
|---|---|
| Female people, female animals | die Frau, die Professorin, die Polizistin, die Kuh, die Gans (except: das Mädchen, das Fräulein) |
| Most German rivers | die Donau, die Mosel, die Elbe, die Weser, die Oder BUT NOTE: der Rhein, der Main |
| Most nouns ending in e | BUT NOTE: der Käse, der Name, das Ende, das Auge, der Affe [and other animals], der Biologe [and other male job designations], der Kunde [=customer] |
| -ei | die Bücherei (library), die Datei |
| -schaft | die Freundschaft [=friendship]; die Wirtschaft |
| -heit / keit | die Dummheit [=stupidity], die Schwierigkeit [=difficulty] |
| -ung | die Landung [=landing], die Bedeutung [=meaning] |
| -tät | die Universität, die Elektrizi |
| -ion | die Situation, die Religion, die Funktion |
| -ik | die Panik, die Logik, die Ethik, die Symbolik, die Mechanik |
| -ie | die Philosophie, die Biologie, die Monotonie, die Magie |
| -enz/ anz | die Frequenz, die Toleranz, die Diskrepanz |
| -ur | die Kultur, die Prozedur, die Natur |
It may be helpful to keep in mind that most trees and flowers take the feminine article.
Example: die Tulpe, die Rose, die Eiche.
How to determine Neuter nouns (das)
Most “borrowed” words take the neuter gender.
| Rule | Examples |
|---|---|
| Human and animal babies / kids | das Baby, das Kind, das Kalb, das Lamm [der Junge] |
| Names of animals that include both male and female | das Pferd [horse], Schwein [pig], Schaf [sheep] |
| Cities, continents, and most countries | das alte Berlin [old Berlin], Asien [Asia], Frankreich [France]. Exception: der Irak, der Iran, der Libanon; die Schweiz; and countries ending in -ei: die Türkei. |
| Most metals | das Gold, das Kupfer, das Silber, das Nickel, das Kadmium |
| Verb infinitives turned into nouns | das Leben, das Schwimmen |
| Collectives with Ge (exception: die Gesellschaft) | das Gebäude, das Gebirge, das Geschrei, das Gebüsch |
| Nouns w. diminutive suffixes: chen, lein (and their dialect forms: -le, -erl, -el, -li) | das Kindlein, das Mädchen, das Hartmutchen (and das Häusle, das Kasperle etc.) |
| Nouns ending in -ment or -(i)um | das Experiment, das Museum, das Datum, das Opium |
| -tel, -tum | das Drittel, das Eigentum |
Nouns with diminutive suffixes will be unchanged in the plural.
Example: das Mädchen, die Mädchen.
The letters of the alphabet: das A, das B, das C, das D, and so on, will take neuter article “das”.
Example: das Hotel, das Poster, and so on.