Understanding German Genders

Jun 23, 2024

Understanding German Genders

Introduction

  • Speaker: Luzi (host)
  • Topic: Tips and tricks to determine the gender of German nouns

Definite Articles in German

  • Der: Masculine
  • Die: Feminine
  • Das: Neuter

Methods to Determine Gender

  1. Biological Sex
  2. Meaning
  3. Suffix (Nachsilbe)

Masculine (Der)

Biological Sex

  • Examples: Pilot, painter, doctor

Time-related Nouns

  • Daytimes: Morning (Der Morgen), Noon (Der Mittag), Afternoon (Der Nachmittag)
  • Days: Monday (Der Montag), Wednesday (Der Mittwoch), Saturday (Der Samstag), Sunday (Der Sonntag)
  • Months: January (Der Januar), April (Der April), December (Der Dezember)
  • Seasons: Spring (Der FrĂĽhling), Summer (Der Sommer), Fall (Der Herbst), Winter (Der Winter)
  • Exception: Das FrĂĽhjahr (Spring)
  • Car brands: Der VW, Der Ferrari, Der BMW, Der Audi, Der Toyota

Common Masculine Suffixes

  • -ling: Example: Der Feigling (the coward)
  • -ich: Example: Der Teppich (the carpet)
  • -ismus: Example: Der Kapitalismus (the capitalism)
  • -er: Example: Der Koffer (the suitcase)
  • -ant: Example: Der Elefant (the elephant)
  • -ist: Example: Der Komponist (the composer)
  • -ig: Example: Der König (the king)

Feminine (Die)

Biological Sex

  • Examples: Mother (Die Mutter), Aunt (Die Tante), Sister (Die Schwester)
  • Female professions: Add “-in”
    • Examples: Die Pilotin (female pilot), Die Malerin (female painter), Die Ă„rztin (female doctor)

Other Categories

  • Airplanes, ships, motorbikes (mostly feminine)

Always Feminine Suffixes

  • -heit: Example: Die Schönheit (the beauty)
  • -keit: Example: Die Helligkeit (the brightness)
  • -schaft: Example: Die Mannschaft (the team)
  • -ung: Example: Die Zeitung (the newspaper)
  • -ion: Example: Die Situation (the situation)
  • -ik: Example: Die Musik (the music)
  • -ur: Example: Die Kultur (the culture)
  • -ie: Example: Die Universität (the university)
  • -enz: Example: Die Konferenz (the conference)
  • -e: Over 90% are feminine

Neuter (Das)

Biological Sex

  • Examples: Child (Das Kind), Thing (Das Ding)

Nouns from Adjectives and Verbs

  • Adjectives: Example: Rot (red), Das Rot (the color red)
  • Verbs: Example: Das Lesen (the reading)

Materials (Mostly Neuter)

  • Examples: Wood (Das Holz), Glass (Das Glas), Metal (Das Metall)

Diminutives (Always Neuter)

  • -lein: Example: Das Vöglein (the small bird)
  • -chen: Example: Das Päckchen (the small package)
  • Mostly neuter: Example: Das Mädchen (the girl)

Common Neuter Words

  • Examples: Bed (Das Bett), Aquarium (Das Aquarium), Medicine (Das Medikament), Date (Das Datum), Level (Das Niveau), Training (Das Training), Office (Das BĂĽro)

Bonus Tip

  • If unsure, use feminine (Die)
    • Statistically, 46% of German nouns are feminine, 34% are masculine, and 20% are neuter

Conclusion

  • Encouragement to subscribe and engage with the content
  • Sign-off: Auf Wiedersehen, tschĂĽss, bye bye, und ciao ciao

Full transcript