Let's learn german

Gender

We have learned it earlier that every noun in German is capitalized. Most world languages have nouns that are either masculine or feminine. However, there are three types of genders in German:

1. Männlich (Masculine)

2. Weiblich (Feminine)

3. Neutrum (Neuter)

We know by now that every Noun in the German language has a gender. Keep it in mind that gender is for each noun and not the concerned object. It means that that if an object is called by different names then all the names can have different genders. There are three different German words for "ocean" or "sea," all with a different gender: der ozean, das meer, die see. 

A good general rule for learning German vocabulary is to treat the article of a noun as an integral part of the word. Not knowing a word's gender can lead to all sorts of other problems. For example, das tor is the gate or portal, while der tor is the fool.

However, if you tend to forget the gender of a noun few of the following hints can help you remind them.

1. Männlich - der    

a.) Male people: der Vater (father), der  Mann (man), der Arzt (doctor), der Student (student), der Deutsche (german male person). 

b.) Days, months, and seasons: der Montag (Monday), der Juli (July), der Sommer (summer), however, it is das Frühjahr (spring) it can also be written as der Frühling.

c.) Names of cars and trains: der VW, der Mercedes (but motorbikes and aircraft are feminine)

d.)Names of alcoholic drinks: der Wein (but das Bier)

e.) The basic atmospheric elements that end in-stoff: der Sauerstoff (oxygen) der Stickstoff (nitrogen), other elements that are masculine are der Phosphor and der Schwefel (Sulphur). All other elements are neuter. das Zink, das Kupfer.

f.) Nouns ending in -ismus: der Journalismus (Journalism)(equals -ism words in English)

g.) Most Nouns ending in -ich, -ling, -ist: der Rettich (radish), der Frühling (spring), der Pazifist (pacifist).

2. Weiblich- die

a.) Females: die Mutter (Mother), die Frau (woman), die Arztin(female doctor), die Deutsche (german female)

b.) Names of aircraft,ships and motorbikes: die Boring 747, die BMW (only ibke not car car is der BMW)

c.) Nouns ending with suffixes: -heit, -keit, -tät,-ung, -schaft: dei Freiheit (freedom), die Schnelligkeit (quickness), die Universität (university), die Zeitung (newspaper), die Freundschaft (friendship)

d.) Nouns ending with -ik: die Musik (music), die Grafik (graphic)

e.) Cardinal numbers: eine Eins , eine Drei (a one, one three)

f.) Most types of plants and trees: die Rose (rose),die Birke (birch). But, der Ahorn (mapple), der Baum (tree).

3. Neutrum- das

a.) Nouns ending in -chen or -leing: das Hauschen (cottage), das Kaninchen (rabbit), das Mädchen (young girl)

b.) Infinitive form of verbs: das Essen (food/to eat)

c.) Almost all of the chemical elements except of the ones that were mentioned as masculine: das Almunium, das Zink (zinc)

d.) Names of Hotels, Cafes, and theaters 

e.) Names of colors used as Nouns: das Blau (blue), das Rot (red)

f.) Young animals and people: das Baby, but, der Junge (boy)

g.) Most Nouns ending with -o: das Auto (car), das Kasino (Casino). But it is, die Avocado, der Euro (Euro).

h.) Most Nouns starting with Ge-: das Genick (back of neck), das Gemüse (vegetable) however,  there are still many exceptions to it, der Genuss (enjoyment)

One thing that should be kept in mind there are exceptions to all the above rules. Hence, always make sure to learn new nouns by there Gender. 

One more important rule to keep in mind would be that the gender of a Compound Noun (Noun made up of more than one noun) is always determined by the gender of the last word. For example der Orangensaft (orange juice) = Die Orange (orange) + der Saft (juice).

This has already become a pretty long chapter for me. So I will close it now. Keep practicing. Stay safe. Bis später. Tschüß.