Ch 1 · Lesson 9German · Chapter 1 · Lesson 9 · Grammar primer
Der, die, das: the three genders
German has three words for the, one per gender, and the gender belongs to the word, not the thing. So you never learn a German noun without its article.
The short version
Never learn a German noun without its article
, ,
Why?Hide
Learning teaches you almost nothing useful. Learning teaches you the word, because the gender is a property you cannot derive and will need in every sentence the noun appears in. Treat the article as part of the spelling and the hardest thing about German quietly stops being hard.
German has three words for the: , and , one per gender. Then each changes again with the noun's in the sentence. The article is not decoration: it carries the grammar. So learn every noun with its article, and read the article before the word order.
The whole system on one screen
Each gender has its own colour, here and in every Kilo Lingo course. The case colours mark the one letter that changes with the noun's .
| Gender | The, a | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | | | the man |
| feminine | | | the woman |
| neuter | | | the child |
| plural | | | the children |
| Job | Masculine | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| subject | | . | The man is here. |
| direct object | | . | I see the man. |
Three genders, and they are not about biology
Every German noun is masculine, feminine or neuter, and the article follows. The trap is assuming the gender describes the thing. It does not: it belongs to the word.
| English | German | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| The child is here. | . | a child is neuter |
| The girl is here. | . | a girl is neuter (-chen) |
| Time is short. | . | time is feminine |
| The day is long. | . | a day is masculine |
the boy
the girl, neuter
the woman
the child
So learning teaches you almost nothing useful. Learning teaches you the word.
The gender clues that actually work
No rule sorts every noun, but some endings turn a guess into a near certainty. The colour on the ending matches the colour on the article it predicts.
| Ending or group | Gender | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ung | feminine | | the newspaper |
| -heit, -keit | feminine | | freedom |
| -schaft | feminine | | the team |
| -ion, -tät | feminine | | information |
| -chen, -lein | neuter | | the girl |
| -ling, -ismus | masculine | | spring |
| days, seasons | masculine | | Monday |
| verb as a noun | neuter | | the food |
The last clue is a gift: a compound noun takes the gender of its last part.
.- The birthday is today..- Free time is short. (from
Everything else, which is most nouns, you learn with its article attached.
Going further: The article changes again when the noun's job changes and the rest of the guide, when you want them. This lesson does not need them.
Practice
Practise this lesson
9-question session
One question at a time, mixed across the exercises in this lesson. Miss one and it comes back round before the end.
German · Free printables
Worksheets for this lesson
Worksheets with answer keys built in. Open any one to view, print or save.
Lesson 9 of 38 in this chapter