Grammatical gender in German

All German nouns are included in one of three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine or neuter. However, the gender is not relevant to the plural forms of nouns.[1][2]

German grammar

In German, it is useful to memorize nouns with their accompanying definite article in order to remember their gender.[note 1] However, for about 80% of nouns, the grammatical gender can be deduced from their singular and plural forms and their meaning.[1][2]

Noun forms

Derivational suffixes in particular, together with most noun endings, consistently relate with specific genders, and there are very few frequent exceptions to this (as reflected in the first column). Nevertheless, the details in the second column are not solid rules, and their irregularities should be noted.[2]

Noun forms and gender[1][2][note 2]
Masculine endings[Nf 1] Masculine gender indications
-ant, -ast, -ich, -ig, -ismus, -ling, -or, -us The majority of nouns which come from strong verbs without a suffix (but often with a vowel change).[Nf 2]
60% of nouns in -el and -er, as well as 80% of those in -en,[Nf 3] are masculine.[Nf 4]
67% of monosyllabic nouns.[Nf 5]
Feminine endings[Nf 6] Feminine gender indications
-a, -anz, -ei, -enz, -heit, -ie,[note 3] -ik,[note 3] -in,[Nf 7] -keit,

-schaft, -sion,[note 3] -tät, -tion,[note 3] -ung, -ur

 Most nouns ending in -t originating from verbs.[Nf 8]
90% of nouns in -e.[Nf 9]
Neuter endings[Nf 10] Neuter gender indications
-chen, -lein, -ma, -ment, -sel, -tel, -tum, -um 90% of the nouns with the prefix Ge-.[Nf 11]
Two-thirds of nouns in -nis and -sal.[Nf 12]
Most nouns ending in -al, -an, -ar, -är, -at, -ent, -ett, -ier, -iv, -o and -on (which are of foreign origin), provided that they designate things.[Nf 13]

Notes: exceptions and irregularities

  1. Except das Genus (gender), das Korpus (collection of texts), das Labor (laboratory), das Tempus (tense), das Virus [colloquial also der Virus] (virus).
  2. But: das Grab, das Lied, das Maß, das Schloss, das Verbot.
  3. Since no feminine nouns end in en.
  4. Nouns with -er arising from verbs are masculine (anyhow, most of them describe human beings). Four categories which are not masculine:
    • Nouns which stem from verb infinitives in -en are neuter (das Kochen);
    • Nouns in -sel and -tel are neuter (see the first column);
    • Roughly 15% of the other nouns in -el, -en and -er are neuter;
    • Circa 25% of those in -el and -er are feminine.
  5. The rest are 19% neuter and 14% feminine.
  6. Apart from das Sofa, das Genie, der Atlantik, der Pazifik, das Mosaik, das Abitur, das Futur, das Purpur.
  7. Chemical terms which end in -in (pronounced [iːn]) are neuter (das Benzin, das Protein).
  8. Except for: der Dienst, der Durst, der Frost, der Verdienst, der Verlust, das Gift.
  9. The main exceptions are:
    • A few neuter nouns, the most common of which are: das Auge, das Ende, das Erbe (when it means ‘inheritance’ or ‘heritage’), das Finale, das Image, das Interesse, das Prestige, das Regime.
    • der Charme and der Käse;
    • Most nouns with the prefix Ge- are neuter, even if they end with an -e (see the chart);
    • Nine exceptional masculines: der Buchstabe, der Friede, der Funke, der Gedanke, der Glaube, der Haufe, der Name, der Same, der Wille (these end in -n in the plural and in the accusative and dative singular, but in -ns in the genitive singular[3]);
    • The weak masculines which are names of male persons and animals: der Affe, der Bote, der Junge, der Löwe (the weak masculines are a group of nouns, most of which denote male humans or animals, which end in -n or -en in the plural and in all cases besides the nominative[4]).
  10. Excluding die Firma, der Streusel, der Irrtum, der Reichtum, der Konsum.
  11. The irregularities here are:
    • Categories of humans (der Gehilfe–die Gehilfin ‘assistant’ etc);
    • A large number of feminine and masculine nouns:
      • die Gebärde, die Gebühr, die Geburt, die Geduld, die Gefahr, die Gemeinde, die Geschichte, die Geschwulst, die Gestalt, die Gewähr, die Gewalt;
      • der Gebrauch, der Gedanke, der Gefallen (favour), der Gehalt (content), der Gehorsam, der Genuss, der Geruch, der Gesang, der Geschmack, der Gestank, der Gewinn (Gefallen and Gehalt are neuter when they mean ‘pleasure’ and ‘salary’, respectively.).
  12. About a third of them are feminine. More specifically, nouns derived from adjectives with the suffix -nis are primarily feminine.
  13. If they describe persons, they are masculine. Irregularities: der Altar, der Apparat, der Automat, der Kanal, der Kanton, der Kommentar, die Manier, die Moral, die Person, der Salat, der Senat, der Skandal.

Noun meanings

The gender of many nouns can be seen by their meaning. However, in almost all circumstances, the rules in the paragraph above override those given here.[1][5]

Noun meanings and gender[1][5][note 2]
Masculine Male human beings and animals.but, for example: die männliche Giraffe (feminine meaning the male giraffe)
Seasons, months and days of the week.[B 1]but: die Mittwoche (dated form for der Mittwoch)
Compass points, words about winds and types of weather.but: die Windböe; das Wetter, Gewitter
Rocks and minerals.
Alcoholic and plant-based drinks.but: das Bier
Car brands.
Rivers outside Germany.[B 2]
Names of currencies.but: die (Deutsche) Mark
Mountains and mountain ranges.but: das Gebirge
Rain and Precipitation [6]
Feminine Female animals and humans.but, for example: das Mädchen
Planes, ships and motorbikes.[B 3]but: das Flugzeug, Schiff, Motorrad
Names of numerals.
Neuter Young human beings and animals.but: der Säugling
Metals and chemical elements.but: der Sauerstoff, Wasserstoff
Scientific units.but: der Meter; der/das Liter
Letters and musical notes.[B 4]
Cafés, cinemas, hotels and restaurants.
Names of companies with no article.[B 5]
Cities, towns, countries, provinces and continents.[B 6]but: die Schweiz; der/(das) Iran, Irak, Sudan
Different parts of speech used as nouns (most importantly, this category contains verb substantivisations, but also languages, colours and so on).

Notes for the chart:

  1. As usual, compounds carry the gender of their second component.
  2. The nouns which end in either -a or -e are typically feminine.
  3. Names of planes and ships frequently have the gender of their base words.
  4. Letters are masculine in Swiss German.
  5. Less commonly, these names act as feminines.
  6. Except several feminines, masculines and names ending in -a, -e, -ei or -ie (besides Afrika and China).

Special cases

The genders of a few nouns are not fixed, and may be linked to regional or register differences. There are a number of words with two meanings distinguished by gender.[1][7]

Compounds and abbreviations

Compound words usually carry the gender of their last element. Moreover, the gender of abbreviations is decided by the base word, and shortened words act as the gender of the full word.[1][7]

English loanwords

Many loanwords from English adopt the gender of their native German equivalent; the gender of other loanwords may be deduced by the word's form or ending. For example, nouns from English -ing forms are neuter when referring to actions, but masculine when not referring to actions e.g. der Looping, 'loop' esp. in context of a rollercoaster. Another source of neuter loanwords are adverbials like das Off.[1][7]

Monosyllabic nouns from verbs

Monosyllabic nouns from verbs are often masculine, and the same goes for monosyllabic words for which there is no other indication, which are mainly masculine.[1][7]

Varying gender

In many cases the gender can vary, either because of regional differences or because the noun's gender is not firmly established.[1][7]

Professions
See also: Gender neutrality in languages with grammatical gender § German

Most job titles have both a masculine and feminine form, to reflect the gender of the professional, similar to the English distinction between "waiter" and "waitress". Feminine job titles are usually created by adding -in to the grammatically masculine word in question. For example, the general grammatically masculine term for train driver is Lokführer (singular or plural). This yields the feminine form Lokführerin (plural: Lokführerinnen).

See also

Notes
  1. While Donaldson (2007) says that it is imperative to do so, Durrell (2017) only mentions that is an ideal method.
  2. The lists of exceptions here do not necessarily include all of them. Furthermore, the notes referring to the information in the chart are referenced using the pages on its caption.
  3. Donaldson (2007) asserts that all nouns of French origin ending in -ie, -ik and -ion are feminine.

References
  1. Donaldson 2007, pp. 33–37.
  2. Durrell 2017, pp. 1–5.
  3. Durrell 2017, p. 35
  4. Durrell 2017, p. 33
  5. Durrell 2017, pp. 6–9.
  6. "der, die, das – Gender of Nouns in German Grammar". deutsch.lingolia.com. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  7. Durrell 2017, pp. 12–16.

Sources
  • Donaldson, Bruce (2007). German: An Essential Grammar. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-36602-1.
  • Durrell, Martin (2017). Hammer’s German Grammar and Usage (6th ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-138-85371-3.

Further reading
  • Diewald, Gabriele; Steinhauer, Anja (2017). Richtig gendern (in German). Duden. ISBN 978-3-411-74357-5.
  • Foster, Wendy; Christensen, Paulina; Fox, Anne (2013). German All-in-One For Dummies. Wiley. pp. 307–311. ISBN 978-1-118-49140-9.
  • Die Grammatik (in German) (9th ed.). Duden. 2016. pp. 156–172. ISBN 978-3-411-04049-0.
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