In
German, all nouns have a grammatical gender that is indicated by
the definite article:
der =
masculine
die = feminine
das
= neuter
Although there
seems to be no apparent rationale for this classification [Tür
(door) for example is feminine, whereas Tisch (table) is masculine], the
ending of the noun or its meaning often help to
predict its gender. Therefore it is a very good idea to
familiarize yourself with these guidelines.
The following nouns are usually masculine:
-
all male persons, their professions and
nationalities, e.g. der Mann, der Journalist, der Student,
der Doktor, der Ire
-
the names of seasons, e.g. der Sommer, der Winter, der Herbst
-
the names of months, e.g. der Januar, der Februar, der März
-
the names of days, e.g. der Montag, der Dienstag, der
Mittwoch
-
all makes of cars, e.g. der VW, der Mini, der Audi,
der Tesla
-
many nouns ending in -er, e.g. der Einwohner, der Computer,
der Lehrer, der Hammer
-
exceptions: die Nummer, die Mutter, die Schwester,
das Fenster, die Butter etc.
-
practically all alcoholic drinks, e.g. der Wein, der Rum, der Gin,
der Sekt
The following nouns are usually feminine:
-
nearly all female persons, e.g. die Frau, die Mutter, die Studentin
-
most nouns ending in -e, e.g. die Flasche, die Tasche, die
Bluse
-
exceptions:
-
der Name, der Käse, das Auge, das
Ende etc.
-
all male persons or animals: der Junge, der
Ire, der Löwe etc.
-
all collective nouns with the prefix Ge-: das Gemüse, das Gemälde etc.
-
nouns ending in -a, e.g. die Kamera, die Mensa, die Pizza,
die Agenda
-
all nouns ending in -ei, e.g. die
Bäckerei, die Polizei, die Fleischerei, die Konditorei
-
nouns ending in -ie, e.g. die Biologie, die Chemie
-
nouns ending in -ik, e.g. die Musik, die Informatik, die
Mathematik
-
nouns ending in -in, e.g. die Lehrerin, die Journalistin,
die Studentin
-
nouns ending in -ion,
e.g. die Information, die Tradition, die Situation
-
all nouns ending in -tät, e.g. die
Universität, die Qualität, die Solidarität
-
all nouns
ending in -ung, e.g.die Zeitung, die Heizung, die
Meinung
The following nouns are usually neuter:
-
most nouns ending in -o, e.g. das Kino, das Auto, das Foto
-
all nouns ending in -chen, e.g. das Mädchen, das Brötchen
-
all infinitives used as
nouns, e.g. das Essen, das Treffen, das Wissen
By the way, it might be helpful to
know that according to the Duden
(Germany's famous dictionary of the German language),
about 46% of German nouns are feminine, 34% are masculine
and 20% are neuter.
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NOTE: A compound noun always takes the gender of the last noun, e.g.
das
Telefon + die Nummer -> die Telefonnummer
der
Wein + das Glas -> das Weinglas
die Tür + der
Schlüssel -> der Türschlüssel
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