The Ultimate Guide to German Noun Genders: Der, Die, Das Explained

How to choose the correct gender and article for German nouns

In German, identifying the gender of a noun is not an easy task. According to the introduction to der, die, das articles in German language choosing a right article for a noun depends on gender of a noun:

• “der” - masculine gender
• “die” - feminine gender
• “das” - neuter gender
• “die” - plural noun

Fortunately, there are some useful patterns and rules that can help in this case.

The gender of nouns can be identified:

• by the meaning of the word
• by the endings of German noun

Here is a guide to help you determine the gender and article of German nouns.

Let's get started!

Masculine gender (der)

Masculine nouns by the meaning of word

Nr	Meaning of word	Example
1	Nouns referring to male persons	der Mann (man), der Junge (boy)
2	Nouns referring to male professions	der Lehrer (teacher)
3	Male animals	der Hase (rabbit), der Bär (bear)
4	Seasons of the year	der Sommer (summer), der Winter (winter), der Frühling (spring), der Herbst (autumn), but: das Jahr - year
5	Names of months	der Januar (January), der Mai (Mai), der Juni (June), der Monat (month)
6	Days of the week	der Montag (Monday), der Dienstag (Tuesday), der Mittwoch (Wednesday), but: die Woche (week)
7	Time of the day	der Morgen (morning), but: die Nacht (night)
8	Points of the compass	der Norden (north), der Süden (south), der Osten (east), der Westen (west)
9	Weather phenomena	der Wind (wind), der Regen (rain), der Schnee (snow)
10	Celestial bodies	der Mond (moon), der Stern (star), der Jupiter (Jupiter), but: die Sonne (sun), die Venus (Venus)
11	Minerals and stones	der Granit (granit), der Rubin (rubin), der Diamant (diamond)
12	Names of lakes and mountains	der Ammersee (lake Ammersee), der Harz (the Harz Mountains)
13	Tea, coffee and alcohol drinks	der Tee (tea), der Kaffee (coffee), der Wodka (vodka), der Sekt (champagne), der Schnaps (schnapps), but: das Bier (beer)
14	Currency units	der Euro (euro), der Dollar (dollar), but: die Krone (krona currency), die Mark (mark currency)
15	Names of car brands	der BMW, der Nissan, der Honda, der Opel, der VW (Volkswagen)

Masculine nouns by the word’s suffix

Nr	Ending of a word	Example
1	Nouns ending in -er, when expressing male person	der Fahrer (driver) Do not mix the suffix -er in derivative nouns with words whose root ends in -er: die Mutter, die Tochter, das Fenster
2	Nouns that are generated from verbs	der Gang (corridor) - from gehen der Gruß (greeting) - from grüßen der Sprung (jump) - from springen , but: das Spiel
Most frequent suffixes (besides -er):
3	-ling	der Lehrling (trainee), der Fremdling (stranger)
4	-ig	der Honig (honey), der Essig (vinegar)
5	-ismus	der Kapitalismus (capitalism)
6	-ich	der Teppich (carpet)
7	-us	der Zirkus (circus), der Globus (globe), der Campus (campus)
8	-ist	der Journalist (journalist)
9	-or	der Doktor (doctor), der Autor (author), but: das Labor (laboratory)
10	-ler	der Sportler (sportsman), der Künstler (the artist)
Other suffixes:
11	-ner	der Gärtner (gardener)
12	-s	der Fuchs (fox)
13	-eich	der Bereich (area), der Teich (pond), but: das Reich (empire), das Frankreich (France)
14	-eig	der Teig (dough)
15	-ent*	der Student (student), der Patient (patient), der Klient (client), der Agent (agent)
16	-ant	der Laborant (laboratory technician), der Gigant (giant)
17	-et*	der Poet (poet)
18	-ot	der Pilot (pilot)
19	-at*	der Kandidat (candidate)
20	-soph	der Philosoph (philosopher)
21	-nom	der Astronom (astronomer)
22	-graph	der Photograph (photographer)
23	-eur	der Ingenieur (engineer )
24	-ier	der Pionier (pioneer)
25	-ar	der Jubilar (jubilee)
26	-är	der Sekretär (secretary)
27	-loge	der Geologe (geologist)
28	-ast	der Enthusiast (enthusiast), der Kontrast (contrast)

* Note: nouns with suffixes -ent, -at, -et can have also neuter gender: der Kontinent - das Patent, der Apparat - das Referat, der Planet - das Alphabet

Feminine gender (die)

Feminine nouns by the meaning of word

Nr	Meaning of word	Example
1	Nouns referring to female persons	die Frau (woman), but: das Mädchen (girl)
2	Nouns referring to female professions	die Lehrerin (female teacher) The word’s ending -in shows that this is a female.
3	Female animals	die Kuh (cow), die Ziege (goat)
4	Names of trees	die Birke (birch), die Eiche (oak), die Fichte (spruce), die Linde (linden), but: der Ahorn (maple)
5	Names of flowers	die Aster (aster), die Rose (rose), die Lilie (lily), die Kamille (camomile), die Tulpe (tulip), but: der Kaktus (cactus), der Mohn (poppy)
6	Names of berries	die Erdbeere (strawberry), die Himbeere (raspberry)
7	Names of fruits	die Birne (pear), die Zitrone (lemon), die Banane (banana), die Kiwi (kiwi), but: der Apfel (apple), der Pfirsich (peach)
8	Names of vegetables	die Zwiebel (onion), die Kartoffel (potato), but: der Kohl (cabbage), der Kürbis (pumpkin)
9	Most rivers	die Elbe, die Donau, die Oder, , but: der Rhein, der Main, der Neckar
10	Substantivized numerals (which have become nouns)	die Acht (figure of eight) die Million (million)
11	Names of motorcycle brands, ships, airplanes	die Suzuki, die Europa, die Boeing

Feminine nouns by the word’s suffix

Other suffixes

Nr	Ending of word	Example
1	Nouns ending in -in, when expressing female person	die Kellnerin (waitress), die Verkäuferin (saleswoman), die Ärztin (female doctor), but: neuter gender for chemicals: das Protein (protein), das Benzin (petrol)
2	Nouns ending in -e (about 90% of such nouns)	die Lampe (lamp), die Blume (flower), die Seite (page), but: names of male persons and animals: der Junge (boy), der Löwe (lion), der Affe (monkey) and some neuter words: das Ende (end), das Interesse (interest), das Auge (eye)
3	Nouns that are generated from verbs with suffix -t	die Fahrt (ride), die Kunst (art)
Most frequent suffixes (besides -in and -e):
4	-ung	die Übung (exercise)
5	-heit	die Freiheit (freedom), die Sicherheit (security)
6	-keit	die Möglichkeit (possibility)
7	-schaft	die Freundschaft (friendship), die Landschaft (landscape), die Gesellschaft (society), die Mannschaft (team)
8	-ei	die Schneiderei (tailor shop), die Brauerei (brewery)
9	-tät	die Universität (university)
10	-ik	die Politik (politics), die Fabrik (factory), but: das Mosaik (mosaic), der Katholik (catholic), der Atlantik (the Atlantic Ocean)
11	-ion	die Illusion (illusion), die Version (version)
12	-ur	die Kultur (culture), die Miniatur (miniature)
Other suffixes:
13	-nis	die Bitternis (bitterness), die Erlaubnis (permission), die Kenntnis (knowledge)
14	-sis	die Basis (foundation), die Krisis (crisis), die Analysis (analysis)
15	-ie	die Theorie (theory), die Chemie (chemie), die Familie (family)
16	-age	die Reportage (reportage)
17	-ade	die Marinade (marinade)
18	-anz	die Ambulanz (ambulance), die Toleranz (tolerance), die Eleganz (elegance), but: monosyllabic words are masculine: der Tanz (dance), der Glanz (gloss)
19	-enz	die Konferenz (conference), die Präsenz (presence)

Neuter gender (das)

Neuter nouns by the meaning of word

Nr	Meaning of word	Example
1	Nouns referring to young people	das Kind (child), das Baby (baby)
2	Nouns referring to young animals	das Kalb (calf), das Lamm (lamb)
3	Nouns derived from verbs and used as nouns	das Essen (eating/food), das Trinken (drinking), das Lesen (reading)
4	Nouns with the prefix Ge-	das Gebirge (mountains), das Gewitter (thunderstorm)
5	Names of hotels, cafe and cinemas	das Hotel (hotel), das Cafe (cafe), das Kino (cinema)
6	Metals and chemical elements	das Gold (gold), das Silber (silver), das Uran (uran)
7	Color designations, names of languages, letters, notes and physical units	das Grün (green), das Deutsch (German), das А (letter a), das Watt (Watt)
8	Names of countries, cities, continents, islands	das schöne Deutschland (beautiful Germany), but: der Iran, der Irak, der Sudan, die BRD, die Schweiz, die Türkei, die Mongolei, die Ukraine, die USA (Pl.) das Berlin, but: der Haag
9	Languages	das German (german language)

Neuter nouns by the word’s suffix

Nr	Ending of word	Example
Most frequent suffixes:
1	-chen	das Mädchen (girl), das Häuschen (little house)
2	-lein	das Fräulein (lady), das Büchlein (little book)
3	-ment	das Instrument (instrument), das Dokument (document)
4	-ma	das Thema (topic), das Drama (drama)
5	-um	das Zentrum (center), das Publikum (audience), das Stadium (stage)
6	-o	das Auto (car), das Radio (radio)
Other suffixes:
7	-(s)tel	das Fünftel (fifth)
8	-ett	das Kabinett (cabinet) das Parkett (parquet flooring)
9	-tum	das Eigentum (ownership), das Datum (date)
10	-nis	das Verhältnis (ratio), das Ergebnis (result, outcome), das Geheimnis (the secret), but: die Kenntnis (knowledge), die Erlaubnis (permission)
11	-erl	das Zuckerl (candy), das Haferl (mug)

Summary: most common suffixes of nouns in different genders in German

The most common word endings for the different genders of a noun in German are as follows:

• Masculine gender: -er, -or, -ling, -ler -ig, -us, -ismus, -ich, -ist;
• Feminine gender: -e, -ei, -in, -ik, -ion, -ung, -keit, -heit, -schaft, -tät, -ur;
• Neuter gender: -chen, -lein, -o, -ment, -ma, -um.

Memorization Tips

• Use flashcards in our online der die das articles memorising app with color coding:
  • Blue for masculine (der)
  • Red for feminine (die)
  • Green for neuter (das)
• Learn nouns with their articles as a single unit, for example:
  • der Hund, die Katze, das Haus
• Compose phrases with several words with the same article.
  For example:
  Der Tisch (table) is a simple word that has the masculine gender.
  Der Löffel (spoon) is a more complex word that also has a masculine gender.
  Example phrase for memorizing:
  Der Löffel liegt auf dem Tisch. - The spoon is on the table.

List of German nouns that have different gender

Some nouns don't follow the usual rules and can have different gender depending on meaning. For example:

• der See (lake) vs. die See (sea)
• das Tor (gate) vs. der Tor (fool)
• der Kiwi (bird) vs. die Kiwi (fruit)
• der Leiter (leader/manager) vs. die Leiter (ladder)
• der Band (volume/book) vs. das Band (ribbon, tape) vs. die Band (music band)