Today we are going to continue talking about German noun genders. If you’ve been using other language learning apps or just watching Youtube, you might have asked y look yourself, why Germans don’t pick one articles – like our English „the“ – and use that. As a non-native speaker of German I do understand your struggle identifying German noun genders. That’s why I wrote the set of these lessons to help you understand German logics while choosing the correct article before the noun.
Lucky you are, because there are notably fewer feminine noun categories.
| Noun category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Female persons | die Frau (the woman), die Mutter (the mother), die Ärztin (the doctor), die Italienerin (Italian) |
| Female version of occupations | die Lehrerin (the teacher), die Kellnerin (the waitress), die Fahrerin (the driver) |
| Animals | die Gans (goose), die Kuh (cow), die Sau (sow), die Henne (hen) |
| Rivers within Germany, Austria, Switzerland | die Donau, die Elbe, die Havel, die Mosel, die Oder, die Weser Some exceptions: der Inn, der Lech, der Rhein, der Neckar |
| Trees | die Tanne (the fir), die Eiche (the oak), die Linde (the lime tree) |
| Fruit | die Pflaume(the plum), die Birne (the pear), die Banane (the banana) |
| Flowers | die Rose (the rose), die Tulpe (the tulip), die Orchidee (the orchid) |
| Numerals used as nouns | die Eins (1), die Zwei (2), die Sechzehn (16), die Million, die Milliarde (billion) |
| Airplane, motorcycle, & ship makes/models/names | die Boeing, die Cessna, die BMW, die Honda, die “Bismarck”, die “Bremen” |
It is possible to recognize the gender of most nouns just by looking at their form, and usually it is the ending that tells you the gender. In the following list you will find endings that identify the nouns as feminine.
| Ending | Examples |
|---|---|
| -anz | die Eleganz (elegance), die Toleranz (tolerance), die Ignoranz (ignorance). However, monosyllabic words are masculine: der Schwanz (tail), der Tanz (dance), der Glanz (gloss). |
| -e | die Bete (the beetroot), die Seite (the page), die Zeile (the line). Exceptions.: Names of male persons and animals: der Affe (the monkey), der Bote (the bot), der Junge (the boy), der Löwe (the lion). |
| -ei | die Türkei (Turkey), die Bäckerei (the backery), die Metzgerei (the butcher’s), die Koditorei (the confectioner’s). |
| -enz | die Konferenz (conference), die Existenz (existence), die Präsenz (presence). |
| -heit | die Sicherheit (security), die Freiheit (freedom), die Gelegenheit (opportunity). |
| -ie | die Philosophie (the philosophy), die Theorie (the theory), die Chirurgie (the surgery), die Familie (the family,) Exception: das Genie (the genius). |
| -in | (when it expresses a female person) die Freundin (the feminine form of der Freund (friend)), die Ärztin (the feminine form of der Artzt (he doctor)), die Bäckerin (the feminine form of der Bäcker (he baker)) etc., but it is neuter for chemical terms, for example das Benzin (the petrol), das Protein (the protein). |
| -ik | die Musik (the music), die Grammatik (the grammar), die Fabrik (the factory) die Mathematik (the Maths), die Panik (the panic) Exceptions: der Atlantik (the Atlantic Ocean), der Katholik (the catholic), das Mozaik (the mosaic), der Pazifik (the Pacific Ocean). |
| -heit | die Menschheit (the humanity), die Gesundheit (the health), die Schönheit (the beauty), die Gleichheit (the equality), die Frechheit (the insolence), die Gewohnheit (the habit) |
| -keit | die Geschwindigkeit (the speed), die Dankbarkeit (the gratitude), die Saunerkeit (the cleanliness) die Ehrlichkeit (the honesty), die Möglichkeit (the possibility), die Aufmerksamkeit (the attention) |
| -schaft | die Gesellschaft (the society), die Freundschaft (the friendship), die Mannschaft (the team). |
| -sion | die Version (the version), die Aggression (the aggression), die Illusion (the illusion). |
| -sis | die Basis (the foundation, the base), die Dosis (the dose, the dosage), die Skepsis (the skeptiscism) |
| -(t)ion | die Station (the station), die Funktion (the function), die Situation (the situation). |
| -ität | die Universität (the university), die Realität (the reality), die Aktivität (the activity), die Loyalität (the loyalty), die Qualität (the quality). |
| -ung | die Übung (the exercise), die Bedeutung (the meaning, the definition), die Heizung (the heating), die Wanderung (the hike), die Zeitung (the newspaper), die Erfahrung (the experience). |
| -ur | die Kultur (culture), die Miniatur (miniature), die Architektur (the architecture), die Figur (the figure). Exceptions: das Abitur (the high-school-leaving exam), das Futur (the future tense). |