Nouns are words that identify people, places, things, or ideas.
Book | book | Krankheit | Illness |
Kind | child | Berg | Mountain |
German nouns are always written with the first letter always being in capital.
German nouns have grammatical gender - a property that doesn't exist in English. Every German noun belongs to one of three genders:
Gender | Article | Example | Translation |
Masculine | der | der Mann | the man |
Feminine | die | die Frau | the woman |
Neuter | das | das Kind | the child |
Unlike English, German has three different words for "the" depending on the noun's gender. The gender is not always logical - it doesn't necessarily relate to biological sex or real-world properties!
There are 2 main ways that help you infer the gender.
- First, the word's ending can provide a clue about its gender.
- Second, certain semantic categories of nouns tend to have the same gender.
Endings indicating the gender
These patterns work about 80-90% of the time when identifying the gender, but note that exceptions do exist!
Masculine endings
-er | der Fahrer | driver |
-ling | der Lehrling | apprentice |
-or | der Motor | motor |
-ich | der Teppich | carpet |
-ig | der Essig | vinegar |
-us | der Tourismus | tourism |
-ant | der Diamant | diamond |
-ast | der Kontrast | contrast |
Feminine endings
-in | die Ärztin | female doctor |
-ung | die Wohnung | apartment |
-heit | die Gesundheit | health |
-keit | die Möglichkeit | possibility |
-schaft | die Freundschaft | friendship |
-ion | die Information | information |
-tät | die Universität | university |
-ur | die Natur | nature |
-ik | die Musik | music |
-ei | die Bäckerei | bakery |
-ie | die Energie | energy |
-enz | die Frequenz | frequency |
-anz | die Toleranz | tolerance |
Note that about 90% of nouns ending in -e are also feminine - however, exceptions exist such as der Junge (boy), der Käse (cheese), der Name (name)
Neuter endings
-chen | das Mädchen | girl |
-lein | das Fräulein | young lady |
-ment | das Instrument | instrument |
-um | das Museum | museum |
-o | das Eigentum | property |
-ma | das Klima | climate |
-nis | das Ereignis | event |
Semantic categories
Certain categories of nouns tend to share the same gender. Here are some examples:
Typically masculine
- Days, months, and seasons: der Montag (Monday), der Januar (January), der Sommer (summer)
- Most alcoholic drinks: der Wein (wine), der Whiskey (whiskey)
- Other drinks: der Kaffee (coffee), der Tee (tea), der Saft (juice)
- Car brands: der BMW, der Mercedes
- Compass directions: der Norden (north), der Süden (south)
- Most currencies: der Euro, der Dollar, der Yen
Typically feminine
- Most trees and flowers: die Eiche (oak), die Rose (rose)
- Most fruits: die Banane (banana), die Orange (orange)
- Numbers: die Eins (one), die Million (million)
Typically neuter
- Most metals: das Gold (gold), das Silber (silver)
- Young animals and people: das Küken (chick), das Kind (child)
- Most colors: das Blau (blue), das Rot (red)