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Guessing Genders
der, die or das? You can't always be sure — but you can guess right most of the time.
Maskulin Feminin Neutrum Plural
Can you guess a gender?
In German, gender belongs to the word, not the thing: das Mädchen (the girl) is grammatically neuter, and der Tisch (the table) is masculine for no logical reason. That's why you should always learn every noun together with its article.
But when you meet a new word, you're not helpless. Two kinds of clues let you make a confident guess: the ending of the word (the strongest clue) and the group it belongs to (days, drinks, people…). This page collects the rules that are actually worth knowing — the ones that are right (almost) all the time.
But when you meet a new word, you're not helpless. Two kinds of clues let you make a confident guess: the ending of the word (the strongest clue) and the group it belongs to (days, drinks, people…). This page collects the rules that are actually worth knowing — the ones that are right (almost) all the time.
Rule 1 — people keep their natural gender
For people, grammar usually follows biology: male people are der, female people are die. This covers family words, professions, and nationalities.
der Mann, der Vater, der Lehrer, der Student · die Frau, die Mutter, die Lehrerin, die Studentin
the man, father, teacher, student · the woman, mother, teacher (f), student (f)
Professions form the feminine with -in: der Lehrer → die Lehrerin. A word ending in -in for a person is always feminin.
das Mädchen · das Kind · das Baby
the girl · the child · the baby
The famous exceptions: -chen makes every word neuter (see Rule 3), so it's das Mädchen even though a girl is female. Children and young beings in general are neutrum: das Kind, das Baby.
Rule 2 — die: the feminine endings
Feminine has the best ending rules in the language. The suffixes in the first two rows are practically 100% reliable — if you see one, you never have to guess again.
| Ends in… | How reliable? | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft | always die | die Zeitung · die Freiheit · die Möglichkeit · die Freundschaft |
| -ion, -tät, -ik, -ur, -ei | always die | die Nation · die Universität · die Musik · die Natur · die Bäckerei |
| -in (a person) | always die | die Lehrerin · die Freundin |
| -e | ~90% die | die Lampe · die Blume · die Schule · die Tasche |
die Wohnung · die Krankheit · die Möglichkeit · die Freundschaft · die Situation
the apartment · the illness · the possibility · the friendship · the situation
Memorize this suffix set once and you own thousands of nouns — they are all feminin, no exceptions worth worrying about. (Bonus: they all take -en in the plural, too.)
die Lampe, die Blume, die Katze — but: der Name, der Junge, der Käse · das Ende, das Auge
the lamp, the flower, the cat — but: the name, the boy, the cheese · the end, the eye
The -e rule is a probability, not a law: about 9 out of 10 nouns in -e are feminin. Learn the handful of common traitors as a set.
Rule 3 — das: the neuter clues
Neuter has two perfect rules — diminutives and verbs-as-nouns — plus a few very useful endings.
| Clue | How reliable? | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -chen, -lein | always das | das Mädchen · das Brötchen · das Büchlein |
| a verb used as a noun | always das | essen → das Essen · leben → das Leben · schwimmen → das Schwimmen |
| -um, -ment | almost always das | das Museum · das Zentrum · das Dokument · das Instrument |
| Ge- at the start | usually das | das Geschenk · das Gebäude · das Gemüse · das Gespräch |
Wir gehen schwimmen. → Das Schwimmen macht Spaß.
We're going swimming. → Swimming is fun.
Any infinitive can become a noun, and the result is always das: das Essen, das Lernen, das Leben. If it looks like a verb wearing a capital letter, it's neutrum.
das Geschenk, das Gemüse, das Gebäude — but: die Geschichte
the present, the vegetables, the building — but: the story/history
Collective Ge- words are mostly neutrum. „die Geschichte" is the common exception — its -e ending wins (Rule 2).
Rule 4 — der: the masculine clues
Masculine rules are more about word groups than endings: the calendar and the weather are almost entirely „der" territory.
| Clue | How reliable? | Example |
|---|---|---|
| days, months, seasons | always der | der Montag · der Januar · der Sommer |
| weather & compass directions | almost always der | der Regen · der Schnee · der Wind · der Norden |
| many drinks | usually der | der Kaffee · der Tee · der Saft · der Wein |
| -er (a doer or a device) | usually der | der Fernseher · der Wecker · der Computer |
| -ling, -or, -ismus | always der | der Frühling · der Motor · der Tourismus |
der Montag, der Juli, der Winter, der Herbst
Monday, July, winter, autumn
The whole calendar is masculin — every day, every month, every season. One rule, dozens of words.
der Regen, der Schnee, der Nebel, der Sturm — but: das Wetter · die Sonne, die Wolke
the rain, the snow, the fog, the storm — but: the weather · the sun, the cloud
Weather phenomena are der, but the word „Wetter" itself is neutrum, and „Sonne"/„Wolke" follow the feminine -e rule instead.
der Fernseher, der Wecker, der Drucker — but: das Fenster, das Zimmer · die Butter, die Schwester
the TV, the alarm clock, the printer — but: the window, the room · the butter, the sister
The -er rule works best when the word is built from a verb — a person or machine that does something: fernsehen → der Fernseher, wecken → der Wecker. Random words that merely end in -er can be any gender.
Rule 5 — compounds: the last word wins
German loves to glue nouns together — and the gender of a compound always comes from its last part. This rule has no exceptions, so one learned article covers every compound built on that word.
das Haus + die Tür → die Haustür · die Küche + der Tisch → der Küchentisch
house + door → the front door · kitchen + table → the kitchen table
Ignore everything except the final noun. „Haustür" ends in Tür → feminin, no matter what stands in front of it.
die Klasse + das Zimmer → das Klassenzimmer · der Geburtstag + das Geschenk → das Geburtstagsgeschenk
class + room → the classroom · birthday + present → the birthday present
Even a monster word is easy: find the last noun, use its gender. If you know das Zimmer, you know Klassenzimmer, Badezimmer, Wohnzimmer, Schlafzimmer — all das.
The exceptions worth memorizing
A few very common words break the patterns above. They come up constantly, so learn them as a small set:
das Bier and das Wasser and die Milch — drinks that are not der
der Name, der Junge, der Käse and das Ende, das Auge — end in -e but are not feminin
das Wetter — the weather-word that isn't masculin
das Mädchen — a girl, but grammatically neutrum (the -chen wins)
das Bier and das Wasser and die Milch — drinks that are not der
der Name, der Junge, der Käse and das Ende, das Auge — end in -e but are not feminin
das Wetter — the weather-word that isn't masculin
das Mädchen — a girl, but grammatically neutrum (the -chen wins)
The 30-second guessing routine
1. Is it a compound? → take the gender of the last word (die Haustür).
2. Ends in -ung / -heit / -keit / -schaft / -ion / -tät? → die, always.
3. Ends in -chen / -lein, or a verb used as a noun? → das, always.
4. A male or female person? → der / die by meaning (except das Mädchen, das Kind).
5. A day, month, season, or weather word? → der.
6. Ends in -e? → probably die (~90%).
7. Still no idea? Guess die — it's the most common gender in German (almost half of all nouns).
Related
- Nominativ — the articles der, die, das in action
- Guessing Plurals — the companion page: gender is step 1 of the plural guess
- Plural Formation — the five plural endings