German Nouns
Clues for masculine nouns:
The following endings usually indicate that a noun is masculine:
Endings German examples English meanings
-er → der Computer, der Wecker → computer, alarm clock
-ig → der Honig, der Käfig → honey, cage
-ismus → der Idealismus, der Kapitalismus → idealism, capitalism
-ling → der Frühling, der Schilling → spring, shilling
-or → der Motor, der Reaktor → engine, reactor
There are also certain groups of nouns which are masculine. They include:
Endings German examples English meanings
Male persons → der Vater, der Sohn → father, son
Names of days and months → der Montag, der August → Monday, August
Names of seasons → der Sommer, der Winter → summer, winter
Makes of cars → der BMW, der Jaguar → BMW, Jaguar
Alcoholic drinks → der Whisky, der Wein → whisky, wine
By Dr. Hamidreza Zolghadr
1
Clues for feminine nouns:
The following endings usually indicate that a noun is feminine:
Endings German examples English meanings
-ei → die Bäckerei, die Türkei → bakery, Turkey
-enz → die Intelligenz, die Differenz → intelligence, difference
-heit → die Freiheit, die Dummheit → freedom, stupidity
-ie → die Demikratie, die Phantasie → democracy, imagination
-ion → die Nation, die KommuniKation → nation, communication
-keit → die Schwierigkeit, die Möglichkeit → difficulty, possibility
-tät → die Universität, die Fakultät → university, faculty
-schaft → die Mannschaft, die Landschaft → team, landscape
-ung → die Wohnung, die Zeitung → flat, newspaper
-ur → die Kultur, die Natur → culture, nature
Note also that about ninety percent of nouns ending in -e are feminine:
die Adresse ‘address’, die Flasche ‘bottle’, die Krawatte ‘tie’
But there are a number of important exceptions such as der Name ‘name’ and der Käse ‘cheese’.
There are also certain groups of nouns which are feminine. They include:
Endings German examples English meanings
Female persons → die Mutter, die Tochter → mother, daughter
Names of motorbikes and ships → die BMW, die Titanic → BMW, Titanic
Names of trees and flowers → die Eiche, die Rose → oak, rose
Notable exceptions include: das Mädchen ‘girl’, das Veilchen ‘violet’.
By Dr. Hamidreza Zolghadr
2
Clues for neuter nouns:
The following endings usually indicate that a noun is neuter:
Endings German examples English meanings
-chen → das Mädchen, das Märchen → girl, fairy tale
-lein → das Fräulein, das Männlein → Miss, little man
-ma → das Klima, das Thema → climate, theme/topic
-ment → das Dokument, das Instrument → document, instrument
-o → das Kino, das Büro → cinema, office
-um → das Album, das Zentrum → album, centre
Important exceptions include: die Firma ‘company’.
There are also certain groups of nouns which tend to be neuter:
Endings German examples English meanings
young persons → das Baby, das Kind → baby, child
infinitives used as nouns → das Singen, das Tanzen → singing, dancing
names of hotels and cinemas → das Hilton, das Roxy → the Hilton, the Roxy
names of most metals → das Silber, das Gold → silver, gold
diminutives → das Tischlein → small table
By Dr. Hamidreza Zolghadr
3
Compound nouns:
You may have noticed that German speakers love to form long words.
In grammar terms a word that is made up of more than one noun is called a
compound noun. In this case the last noun defines the gender:
der Wein + die Flasche → die Weinflasche → wine bottle
das Telefon + die Nummer → die Telefonnummer → telephone number
der Computer + das Spiel → das Computerspiel → computer game
By Dr. Hamidreza Zolghadr
