MASTERING GENDERS IN GERMAN
[ JW ]
A. GENERAL GENDER RULES AND TIPS
- With words referring to people, the grammatical gender
usually coincides with the person's sex.
- Many words which can be used to refer to human beings of
either gender are masculine.
- With most of the words in category 2 above, the feminine
form can be created by adding the suffix -in.
- The masculine version of some nouns is frequently used to
refer to females, even when feminine forms with the suffix -in
exist [Frau Doktor Kranzl ist Professor (Professorin) an
der Universität].
- With animals, generally nouns referring to the animal as a
category where no thought is given to gender, are neuter.
- Young animals also tend to be neuter.
- Where for some reason an animal is thought to have more
feminine or more masculine characteristics. that gender is used.
Sometimes the gender may be due to the structure of the word.
- Compound nouns take the gender of the last element of the
compound.
B. FEMININE NOUNS
- Most nouns which end in -e (but not -ee).
- Those words denoting feminine human beings (and occasionally
animals) which are formed from the masculine words by adding
-in.
- Numerals used as nouns.
- Nouns with the Germanic suffixes -ei, -heit, -keit, -schaft,
-ung.
- Nouns with the suffixes -d and -t are usually
feminine. The ending must be a suffix, though, and not just a
-d or -t ending.
- Nouns with the common foreign suffixes -ie, -ik, -ion, -et.
- A host of other foreign suffixes are also feminine,
including -a, -ade, -age, -eille, -aise, -anee, -äne, -anz,
-elle, -enz, -esse, -ette, -euse, -(i)ere, -ille, -ine, -isse,
-itis, -ive, -ose, -sis, -se, -ur, -üre.
C. MASCULINE NOUNS
- Male human beings and nouns referring specifically to the
male of an animal species.
- Names of days of the week, months, seasons and directions.
- Names of most stones and minerals.
- Names for storms and most other weather phenomena.
- Five nouns ending in -ee.
- Nouns with the suffix -ling.
- Those nouns which indicate the person doing a given verb
action (agent nouns) which are formed by adding -er to
the stem of the verb.
- Many other nouns ending in -er, most ending in -s,
and a large percentage (but not all) of those ending in -en
and -el.
- Almost all nouns formed from one of the principle parts of a
verb, especially one-syllable ones formed from strong verbs.
- Nouns formed with the foreign suffixes -and, -ant, -ar,
-är, -ast, -ent, -cur, -ier, -iker, -ikus, -ismus, -ist, -or,
-us. Of these, the most important are -ier, -ismus, -ist,
-or.
D. NEUTER NOUNS
- Those nouns which end in -chen and -lein.
- Young persons and animals except those which, because of a
suffix, have another gender).
- Names for many animals designating both male and female
collectively.
- Names of cities, touns, most countries and continents. Note:
the article is not generally used with any of these geographic
entities, unless an adjective precedes the name.
- Other parts of speech used as nouns, unless they designate
persons.
- Most collective nouns, especially those formed with the
prefix ge- and the suffix -e.
- Most nouns with the suffixes -icht, -tel, -tum.
- Most nouns ending with the foreign suffixes -ett, -il, -in,
-ium, -ma, -ment, -um.
- Letters of the Alphabet.
E. NOUNS WITH MORE THAN ONE GENDER
Some nouns have two different genders, depending on the
definition. Here is a list of the most common such words.
| der Alp (nightmare) | die Alp (mountain pasture) |
| der Band (volume) | das Band* (ribbon) |
| der Bauer (farmer) | das (der) Bauer (birdcage) |
| der Bund (federation) | das Bund (bundle, bunch) |
| der Erbe (heir) | das Erbe (inheritance) |
| der Flur (hallway) | die Flur (meadow) |
| der Gefallen (favor) | das Gefallen (pleasure) |
| der Gehalt (content) | das Gehalt (salary) |
| der Harz (mountain range) | das Harz (resin) |
| der Heide (heathen) | die Heide (heath) |
| der Hut (hat) | die Hut (protection) |
| der Junge (boy) | das Junge (animal offspring) |
| der Kiefer (jaw) | die Kiefer (pine tree) |
| der Kristall (type of mineral) | das Kristall (type of glass) |
| der Kunde (customer) | die Kunde (news, information) |
| der Leiter (leader) | die Leiter (ladder) |
| das Mark (marrow) | die Mark (monetary unit) |
| der Marsch (march) | die Marsch (marsh) |
| das Maß (measure) | die Maß (liter container--Bavaria) |
| der Mast (mast) | die Mast (fattening of animals) |
| der Messer (surveyor) | das Messer (knife) |
| der Moment (moment, instant) | das Moment (motive, factor) |
| der Otter (otter) | die Otter (adder) |
| der Reis (rice) | das Reis (twig) |
| der Schild (shield) | das Schild (sign) |
| der See (lake) | die See (sea) |
| das Steuer (rudder) | die Steuer (tax) |
| der Stift (pin) | das Stift (convent) |
| der Tau (dew) | das Tau (rope) |
| der Tor (fool) | das Tor (gate) |
| der Verdienst (earnings) | das Verdienst (merit) |
| das Wehr (dam) | die Wehr (defense) |
* also "die Band" (with English pronunciation; band)
The words "Meter" and "Teil" and their compounds occur as both
neuters and masculines.
- "Meter" by itself was originally neuter but it is now usually
considered masculine. In compounds indicating units of length it
is always masculine: "der Zentimeter," "der Kilometer."
Compounds indicating a measuring device are neuter: "das
Thermometer," "das Barometer."
- "Teil" is masculine if it is felt to be a component part of the
whole: "der westlichc Teil." If it designates a separate part
or an individual share it is neuter: "Das ist mein Teil." In a
store displaying various unrelated items on sale for the same
price you frequently see a sign indicating the price for "jedes
Teil." Compounds of "Teil" vary in gender: "das Abteil," "das
Urteil," "der Vorteil," "der Nachteil," "der Körperteil," "der
Bruchteil."
With a few nouns two (or, rarely, even all three genders) are
possible without any difference in meaning. Most of them are
foreign words for which a firm gender has not (yet) been
determined, but there are also a few old Germanic ones in this
category:
der (die) Abscheu
der (das) Mündel
der (das) Dotter
der (das) Sims
der (das) Erbteil
der (die) Wulst
der (das) Knäuel
der (das) Zubehör
Some of the foreign words include the following:
der (das) Barock
der (das, die) Dschungel
der (das) Katheder
der (das) Kompromiß
der (das) Lasso
das Taxi/die Taxe
der (das) Bonbon
der (das Filter
der (das) Keks
der (das) Lampion
der (das) Radar
die (das) Cola
ÜBUNGEN
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* Cut & Paste the appropriate character from here: ß -
Ä - ä - Ö - ö - Ü - ü
* Or, for the "ß" use the capital letter "B" (or an "sz"),
for umlauts use these transcriptions: ä = ae; Ä = AE;
ü = ue etc. |
© 1999ff.
Jerry Weatherford. All rights reserved.