Is it the, dieor the? This question is the bane of many German-language learners’ lives, as learning the gender of words can feel like an endless, uphill struggle.
Berlin-based German teacher and German language specialist, Dirk Nordhoff told The Local: “It’s difficult as there are always three possibilities for nouns. I recommend my learners to always learn new nouns with articles.”
But there are some rules that can help you remember the gender of German words.
Masculine words
In German, masculine words are preceded by the article the in the nominative case (becoming the, to the and of the in the other cases), and there are certain categories of German words that are always masculine. These are:
– Male people e.g. the man (man), the father (father), the doctor (male doctor)
– Days of the week, e.g. the Monday (Monday), The Tuesday (Tuesday)
– Months of the year, e.g. the January (January), the February (February)
– Seasons, e.g. the summer (summer), the spring (spring), the autumn (autumn)
A field of gladioli in spring in Hessen. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Hannes P Albert
– Types of precipitation, e.g. the rain (rain), the snow (snow), the hail (hail)
There are also certain word endings that indicate that the word needs a the. These are:
– Nouns which come from a verb and don’t end in -in e.g The run (race/course), the seat (seat/domicile)
– Words ending in -ig or -I e.g the carpet (rug), the honey (honey)
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Feminine nouns
Feminine nouns in German take the article die in the nominative and accusative cases and the in the dative and genitive cases. The following categories of words are always feminine:
– Names of female people, e.g. the mother (mother), the doctor (the female doctor), the teacher (female teacher)
– Numbers used as nouns e.g. the one, the two, the three
A pair of die show two number twos. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Annette Riedl
– Nouns which come from verbs ending in -te.g the ride (the trip), the haste (the rush)
Language teacher Dirk gave us a tip of his – if in doubt, use the feminine article. “Statistically die is the most common article”, he said.
With feminine nouns the word ending can often give a clue that a word belongs to this category, as the following endings are always feminine:
– Words ending in -ness, -ness, -ik, -schaft, -ur, -ity, -ung, e.g., the freedom (freedom), the possibility (possibility), the critic (criticism), society (community), censorship (censorship), the identity (identity), the hope (hope)
Words ending in -e, -ei, -enz, -ie, -ion, -anz, are also often feminine. Some examples are, the lamp (lamp), the party (party), the intelligence (intelligence), the copy (copy), die Religion (religion), and the arrogance (arrogance). There are numerous exceptions to this rule, however, but if you’re not sure – try with the feminine.
Neuter nouns
In German, the neuter gender takes the article the in the accusative and nominative and to the and of the in the other cases. The following categories of words are always neuter in German:
– Diminutives (words ending in -chen and -line)e.g., the girl (girl), the booklet (booklet)
– Colours, e.g. the Red (red), the yellow (yellow), the blue (blue)
– Nouns taken from the infinitive which have the same spelling, e.g. the food (food), life (life)
– Nouns that come from adjectives, e.g., the good (good), the evil (evil)
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The following words are usually neuter:
– Words taken from other languages, e.g., the baby (baby)the level (the level)
Replica gold bars photographed in Potsdam, 2014. Photo: picture alliance / dpa | Ralf Hirschberger
– Names of metals and chemical elements, e.g. the gold (gold), the iron (iron), the aluminum (aluminium)
Word endings can also be helpful when detecting neuter nouns. The following endings usually indicate this gender:
– Words ending in -ment, -nis, -o, -um, -tume.g the instrument (instrument), the memory (memory), the car (car), the museum (museum), ownership (property), though again, there are of course exceptions.
With the gender of words, it never hurts to try – and don’t feel embarrassed if you don’t get it right.
Dirk told us: “German native speakers don’t perceive it as stupid when foreigners make a mistake with the gender of words. We notice it, but if the pronunciation and vocabulary are good, it’s not a big deal for me and many others.”