Genus

Q: How do I know the gender of a German noun?

German has three grammatical genders: Maskulin ( der ), Feminin ( die ), and Neutrum ( das ). There are useful patterns – nouns ending in –ung are almost always feminine, and diminutives ending in –chen or –lein are always neuter – but many nouns must be memorised with their article.

Q: Why does grammatical gender matter in German?

The Genus of a noun determines the form of its article, adjective endings, and pronouns throughout a sentence. For example, der Tisch → den Tisch in the accusative, while die Lampe stays die Lampe . Getting the gender right is fundamental to correct German grammar.

Q: What gender do compound nouns have in German?

The gender of a Kompositum (compound noun) is always determined by the last element . So die Tür + der Griff = der Türgriff (masculine). This rule is one of the most reliable in German grammar.

At CEFR level A1, Genus (grammatical gender) is one of the first things you must learn about German nouns. Every noun belongs to one of three genders – Maskulin (der), Feminin (die), or Neutrum (das) – and that gender determines the article, adjective endings, and pronouns used with the noun throughout the sentence.

Kernregel Always learn every noun as an article–noun pair: der Hund, die Lampe, das Fenster – never just the bare word.

Die drei Genera

der Maskulin

der Onkel der Montag der Winter der Lehrer

die Feminin

die Ärztin die Blume die Reise die Freiheit

das Neutrum

das Mädchen das Häuschen das Ticket das Museum

Erkennungsmuster

Genus	Typische Endungen	Weitere Hinweise
der	-er, -ling, -ismus	Tage, Monate, Jahreszeiten, männliche Personen
die	-e, -ung, -heit, -keit, -tion, -schaft	weibliche Personen, viele zweisilbige Nomen auf -e
das	-chen, -lein, -ment, -um	Diminutive sind immer neutrum

Beispiele

Der Bus kommt gleich. – Ich sehe den Bus.
Die Uhr klingelt. – Ich kaufe die Uhr.
Das Brot ist frisch. – Ich esse das Brot.

Komposita (zusammengesetzte Nomen)

In German, you can combine two or more nouns into a single new word. This is called a Kompositum (compound noun). The article is always determined by the last word.

Wort 1	+	Wort 2	=	Kompositum
der Wein	+	das Glas	=	das Weinglas
der Wein	+	die Flasche	=	die Weinflasche
die Hand	+	der Schuh	=	der Handschuh
das Haus	+	die Tür	=	die Haustür

Tipp: Always look at the last word – it determines the article. die Flasche → die Weinflasche. The first word only describes what kind it is.

Hinweis: Always learn the article together with the noun – der Tisch, never just Tisch.

Häufig gestellte Fragen – FAQ

How do I know the gender of a German noun?

German has three grammatical genders: Maskulin (der), Feminin (die), and Neutrum (das). There are useful patterns – nouns ending in –ung are almost always feminine, and diminutives ending in –chen or –lein are always neuter – but many nouns must be memorised with their article.

Why does grammatical gender matter in German?

The Genus of a noun determines the form of its article, adjective endings, and pronouns throughout a sentence. For example, der Tisch → den Tisch in the accusative, while die Lampe stays die Lampe. Getting the gender right is fundamental to correct German grammar.

What gender do compound nouns have in German?

The gender of a Kompositum (compound noun) is always determined by the last element. So die Tür + der Griff = der Türgriff (masculine). This rule is one of the most reliable in German grammar.