Nuts & Bolts of German (Explanations): Guidelines for the gender of nouns (A1 Higher)

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

    • exception: das Bier & the various types of beer, e.g. das Pils, das Weizen, das Export

    • exception: die Bloody Mary

 

 

The following nouns are usually feminine:

  • nearly all female persons, e.g. die Frau, die Mutter, die Studentin

    • exception: das Mädchen, das Fräulein

  • 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

    • exception: das Selfie

  • 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

    • exceptions: der Euro, die Mango etc.

  • 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.

 

 

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