Masculine Nouns and The Article der
Firstly, below are the suffixes that tend to indicate the masculine gender (der):
ant – Diamant (diamond), Elefant (elephant), Praktikant (intern)
ent – Student (student), Patient (patient), Assistent (assistant), Dozent (professor)
er – Fahrer (driver), Maler (painter), Spieler (player)
ich – Teppich (carpet), Rettich (radish)
ismus – Kapitalismus (capitalism), Tourismus (tourism), Alkoholismus (alcoholism)
ist – Kapitalist (capitalist), Tourist (tourist), Kommunist (communist)
ling – Zwilling (twin), Frühling (spring)
or – Autor (author), Diktator (dictator),
In addition, other masculine nouns include:
Seasons – der Sommer (the summer), der Herbst (the fall), der Winter (the winter)
Months – der Januar (January), der Februar (February), der März (March)
Days – der Montag (Monday), der Dienstag (Tuesday), der Mittwoch (Wednesday)
Map and compass directions – der Norden (north), der Suden (south), der Westen
(west), der Osten (east)
Cars and trains – der BMW, der Volkswagen, der Mercedes
Many currencies – der Euro, der Dollar, der Cent
Most mountains or lakes – der Mount Everest, der Mississippi, der Montblanc
Learning the categories and typical endings of words that tend to have a specific
noun gender can make the learning process much more manageable.
Also, German occupations can have either a masculine or feminine form. The
masculine form usually ends in er or or.
Examples: der Lehrer (the male teacher), der Professor (the male professor), der
Fotograf (the male photographer), der Kellner (the male waiter)
Feminine Nouns and The Article die
Secondly, below are the tell-tale suffixes of feminine nouns (die):
e – Blume (flower), Summe (sum), Katze (cat)
ei – Polizei (police), Datei (data), Konditorei (confectionary)
heit – Freiheit (freedom), Gesundheit (health), Sicherheit (security)
ie – Garantie (guarantee), Fantasie (fantasy), Ökonomie (economy)
ik – Grammatik (grammar), Mathematik (math), Musik (music)
ion – Nation (nation), Funktion (function), Produktion (production)
ität – Nationalität (nationality), Autorität (authority), Spontaneität (sponteneity)
keit – Aufmerksamkeit (attention), Schwierigkeit (difficulty)
schaft – Freundschaft (friendship), Landschaft (landscape), Gemeinschaft
(community)
ung – Erfahrung (experience), Empfehlung (recommendation), Zeitung (newspaper)
ur – Natur (nature), Kultur (culture), Agentur (agency)
Other feminine nouns also include:
Names of flowers – die Rose (rose), die Tulpe (tulip)
Names of trees – die Kiefer (pine), die Buche (beech), die Eiche (oak)
Most fruits – die Birne (pear), die Zitrone (lemon), die Melone (melon)
Cardinal numbers – die Eins (one), die Zwei (two), die Drei (three)
In addition, feminine occupations add the ending –in.
Examples: die Lehrerin (the female teacher), die Professorin (the female professor),
die Fotografin (the female photographer), die Kellnerin (the waitress)
Neuter Nouns and The Article das
Finally, the endings below usually indicate neuter (das) nouns.
chen – Mädchen (girl), Häuschen (little house),
lein – Häuslein (little house), Mäuslein (little mouse), Fräulein (young woman)
ma – Thema (topic), Drama (drama), Schema (diagram)
ment – Moment (moment), Dokument (document), Experiment (experiment)
nis – Geheimnis (secret), Gefängnis (jail), Kenntnis (knowledge)
tel – Hotel (hotel), Viertel (quarter)
tum – Eigentum (property), Königtum (kingdom), Christentum (christianity)
um – Aquarium (aquarium), Museum (museum)
However, it's important to note that there are exceptions to the rules.
Examples: die Firma (company), der Reichtum (wealth), der Irrtum (mistake), der
Zement (cement)
Below are a few study tips to help you learn the German articles more effectively:
Firstly, learn nouns and their genders together.
Secondly, neuter, feminine, and plural articles stay the same in the nominative and
accusative cases.
Thirdly, masculine and neuter, definite and indefinite articles are the same in the
dative and possessive cases.
Finally, the feminine indefinite articles are the same in the dative and possessive
cases.
Although learning the German articles does require some memorization of charts,
the similarities are simple to recognize.
