der, die, das — Noun Gender
A1Every German noun has a gender. Learn the articles, why guessing fails, and which endings give the gender away.
The problem
German nouns come in three genders: masculine (der), feminine (die) and neuter (das). The gender is a property of the noun itself, not of the thing it describes — so 'das Mädchen' (the girl) is neuter. Always learn the article together with the noun, never the noun alone: 'der Tisch', not just 'Tisch'.
Beispiele — examples in context
der Tisch, die Lampe, das Fenster
the table, the lamp, the window
das Mädchen ist groß.
The girl is tall.
Der Apfel ist rot, die Banane ist gelb, das Brot ist braun.
The apple is red, the banana is yellow, the bread is brown.
Plural is easy: everything becomes die
In the plural, all three genders take the same article. The hard part is the plural form itself, but the article is always 'die'.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | der Tisch | die Tische |
| feminine | die Lampe | die Lampen |
| neuter | das Fenster | die Fenster |
Beispiele — examples in context
Die Tische, die Lampen und die Fenster sind neu.
The tables, lamps and windows are new.
Ending patterns that help you guess
These endings are reliable. Memorize them and you can guess the gender of most new words correctly — and be the person at the table who is right about 'die Wissenschaft'.
| Gender | Typical endings | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| der (m.) | -er, -en, -ling, -ismus | der Lehrer, der Regen, der Tourismus |
| die (f.) | -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -tion | die Wohnung, die Freiheit, die Reaktion |
| das (n.) | -chen, -lein, -ment, -um | das Brötchen, das Zentrum, das Dokument |
Beispiele — examples in context
die Bedeutung — das Verständnis — der Vergleich
the meaning — the understanding — the comparison
Pro tip: compound nouns — the last part decides
Germans love to weld words together, and the rule is beautifully simple: the LAST noun decides the gender. 'die Bürste' (brush) + 'die Zahnbürste' (toothbrush) → die. 'der Schreiber' (writer) → 'der Kugelschreiber' (pen). One rule, thousands of correct articles for free.
Beispiele — examples in context
die Bürste → die Zahnbürste; der Schreiber → der Kugelschreiber
brush → toothbrush (die); writer → ballpoint pen (der)
Die Gitarre ist neu, aber der Gitarrenunterricht ist alt.
The guitar is new, but the guitar lessons are old.