German Nouns Gender: Masculine, Feminine, Neuter

This article is based on "Teach Yourself German Grammar" by Norman Paxton and some information from the website german.about.com.

There are several little tips and certain patterns that German nouns follow which allow you to determine noun's gender. These are only patterns, so there are exceptions. Generally, the gender of a noun must be learned and remembered. Once you learn more German, you will get a feel for which gender fits a certain noun; this feeling is das Sprachgefühl (feeling for the language).

Masculine Nouns

1. Nouns ending in -ner, -ich, -ig, -ling, -ing are typically masculine.
Examples: der Stich - sting; der Strich - line; der Käfig - cage; der König - king; der Ring - ring; der Hering - herring; der Zwilling - twin; der Lehrling - apprentice; der Rentner - pensioner, der Schaffner - train conductor; der Zentner - 100kg.
Exceptions: das Ding - thing; das Camping - camping.

2. Nouns of foreign origin ending with -an, -ast, -ent (except -ment), -ismus, -ist, -or are typically masculine.
Examples: der Ozean - ocean; der Roman - novel; der Palast - palace; der Plast - plastic; der Akzent - accent; der Sozialismus - socialism; der Komponist - composer; der Polizist - policeman; der Motor - motor.
Exceptions: das Organ - organ; das Tor - gate, goal.

3. Days, months, seasons, and points of the compass are all masculine.
Examples: der Montag - Monday; der Mittwoch - Wednesday; der März - March; der Frühling - spring; der Winter - winter; der Süden - South; der Nordwesten - Northwest.

4. Precipation, weather features are also masculine.
Examples: der Regen - rain; der Schnee - snow; der Nebel - fog; der Wind - wind; der Frost - frost; der Tornado - tornado.

5. Male persons and animals, most agents (people that do some action), most occupations and nationals are masculine.
Examples: der Mann - man; der Arzt - doctor; der Sohn - son; der Hund - dog; der Löewe - lion; der Fuchs - fox; der Deutsche - German (man); der Fahrer - driver, der Student - student.

6. Brand names of cars (der Wagen) and train names are masculine.
Examples: der BMW, der Ford, der Mercedes, der Opel, der Porsche, der Renault; der IC, der ICE.

7. The chemical elements that end in -stoff are masculine.
Examples: der Sauerstoff - oxygen; der Stickstoff - nitrogen; der Wasserstoff - hydrogen; and der Kohlenstoff (carbon).
NB: The only other element (out of 112) that is masculine is der Schwefel (sulphur). All of the other chemical elements are neuter.

Feminine Nouns

1. Nouns ending with -ei, -ie, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -tät and -ung are always feminine.
Examples: die Ärznei - medicament; die Partei - party; die Industrie - industry; die Komödie - comedy; die Einzelheit - detail; die Aufmerksamkeit - attention; die Gemeinschaft - community; die Freundschaft - friendship; die Forschung - research; die Zeitung - newspaper.

2. Nouns of foreign origin which end in -a, -ade, -age, -anz, -enz, -ette, -ie, -ine, -ik, -ion and -ur are also feminine.
Examples: die Firma - firm; die Parade - parade; die Limonade - lemonade; die Blamage - disgrace; die Eleganz - elegance; die Intelligenz - intelligence; die Serviette - napkin; die Melodie - melody; die Grammatik - grammar; die Republik - republic; die Physik - physics; die Illusion - illusion; die Qualität - quality; die Konjunktur - economic situation; die Figur - figure.
Exceptions: das Sofa - sofa; das Genie - genius.

3. Female persons and animals, nouns ending in -in that pertain to female people, occupations, nationalities are feminine.
Examples: die Frau - woman; die Tante - aunt; die Tochter - daughter; die Katze - cat; die Kuh - cow; die Sau - sow; die Amerikanerin - American (girl, woman); die Studentin - student (girl);
Exceptions: das Mädchen - girl; das Fräulein - young lady; der Harlekin - harlequin.

4. Nouns formed from adjectives dealing with dimensions and measures are feminine.
Examples: from breit (wide) - die Breite width; from dicht (dense) - die Dichte (density); from dick (thick) - die Dicke (thickness); from fern (far) - die Ferne (distance); from gro? (big) - die Grö?e (size); from hoch (high) - die Höhe (height); from lang (lang) - die Länge (length); from schwer (heavy) - die Schwere (weight);

5. Most types of flowers and trees are feminine.
Examples: die Birke - birch; die Buche - beech; die Eiche - oak; die Kiefer - pine; die Nelke - carnation; die Rose - rose; die Tulpe - tulip.
Exceptions: der Ahorn - maple; das Gänseblumchen - daisy; der Baum - tree.

6. Names of planes, ships and motorbikes are feminine. The "die" comes from "die Maschine" which can mean plane, motorbike and engine.
Examples: die Boeing 747, die Titanic, die BMW (motorbike only; the car is der BMW).

Neuter Nouns

1. Nouns ending with the suffix -chen or -lein are always neuter.
Examples: das Fräulein - young lady; das Mädchen - girl; das Häuschen - cottage; das Kaninchen - rabbit;

2. Most of the nouns ending in -o are neuter.
Examples: das Auto - car; das Kasino - casino; das Konto - account; das Veto - veto; das Video - video.
Exceptions: der Euro - euro, der Scirocco - sirocco (a desert wind).

3. Most of the nouns -nis and -tum are neuter.
Examples: das Versäumnis - absence; das Ergebnis - result; das Gedächtnis - memory; das Christentum - Christianity; das Königtum - kingship.
Exceptions: die Erlaubnis - permission; die Kenntnis - knowledge; die Finsternis - gloom; der Irrtum - error; der Reichtum - wealth.

4. Names of foreign origin ending with -at, -ma, -ment, -um, and -ium are neuter.
Examples: das Quadrat - square; das Komma - comma; das Experiment - experiment; das Album - album; das Datum - date; das Studium - study
Exceptions: der Salat salad, der Zement cement.

5. Fractions are neuter (-tel).
Examples: ein Viertel - one fourth; ein Drittel - one third.
Exceptions: die Hälfte - half.

6. Collective nouns which begin with the prefix Ge- are often neuter.
Examples: das Geschirr - crockery; das Gebäck - baked stuff; das Gemüse - vegetables; das Geschrei - shouting; das Gerät - device; das Geschlecht - gender;
Exceptions: der Geruch - smell; die Gemeinde - congregation; die Gefahr - danger; der Geschmack - taste; die Geduld - patience, etc.

7. Infinitives of verbs used as nouns (gerunds), as well as other parts of speech and letters of the alphabet when used as nouns are always neuter.
Examples: das Essen - eating/food; das Schreiben - writing; Das Schwimmen - swimming; Das Wichtige - the important thing (Das Wichtige siehst du nicht); Man muß das Für und Wider erwägen. - One must way the pros and cons;

8. Most countries and continents, and all towns (except "den Haag") are neuter.
Examples: das alte Wien - old Vienna; das heutige Europa - Europe today.
Exceptions: der Irak, der Jemen, die Schweiz, die Türkei, die USA [plur.])

9. Almost all of the 112 known chemical elements and metals are neuter.
Examples: das Aluminium - aluminium, das Blei - lead, das Kupfer - copper, das Uran - uranium, das Zink - zink, das Zinn - tin, das Zirkonium - zirconium.
Exceptions: der Kohlenstoff - carbon, der Sauerstoff - oxygen, der Stickstoff - nitrogen, der Wasserstoff - hydrogen, der Phosphor - phosphorus, and der Schwefel - sulphur.

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