Der, die or das? How to identify articles in German? When to put a certain or indefinite article? How to determine the gender of a noun and how to use German articles? Almost all nouns in German are preceded by small word, which scares even native speakers, but we will not be intimidated, we analyze it in our video and article.

Nouns in German, as in Russian, have a gender category - masculine, feminine or neuter. At the same time, the gender of nouns in German and Russian often does not coincide. For example:

das Haus- neuter, and house- masculine
die Fliese - feminine, A tile- masculine

Therefore, nouns must be memorized with an article, which indicates the gender of the noun. Remembering the gender of nouns is often difficult, but many nouns have some features that help determine the gender of those nouns. The gender of nouns can be determined:

- according to the meaning of the word;
- by the method of word formation (by the form of the word).

1.1. Masculine (by meaning)

Male persons - der Mann(man), der Junge(boy)
- male animals - der Bär(bear)
- cardinal directions - der Norden(north)
- seasons - der Sommer(summer), der Winter(winter)
- names of months - der Januar(January), der Mai(May), in September(September)
- days of the week - der Montag(Monday), der Mittwoch(Wednesday), der Sonntag(Sunday)
- times of day - der Morgen(morning), But die Nacht(night)
- precipitation - der Regen(rain), der Schnee(snow)
- minerals - der Granit(granite)
- stones - der Rubin(ruby)
- names of mountains - der Harz(Harz)
- names of lakes - der Baikal(Baikal)
- alcoholic drinks - der Wodka(vodka), der Sekt(sparkling wine), but das Bier(beer)
- monetary units - der Euro(euro), but die Kopeke(kopeck), die Krone(crown), die Mark(brand)
- celestial bodies — der Mond(moon), but die Venus(Venus), die Sonne(Sun)
- names of car brands - der Opel, der BMW

1.2. Masculine (by form)

-er— der Fahrer (driver)
-ler - der Sportler (sportsman)
-ner - der Gärtner (gardener)
-ling— der Lehrling (student)
-s - der Fuchs (fox)

Note: don't confuse the suffix <-er> in derived nouns with words whose roots end in <-er> : die Mutter, die Tochter, das Fenster, etc.

Foreign words (mostly animate) with suffixes:
-ent - der Student (student)
-ant - der Laborant (laboratory assistant)
-ist - der Publizist (publicist)
-et - der Poet (poet)
-ot - der Pilot (pilot)
-at - der Kandidat (candidate)
-soph - der Philosopher (philosopher)
-nom - der Astronom (astronomer)
-graph - der Photograph (photographer)
-eur - der Ingenieur (engineer)
-ier - der Pionier (pioneer)
-ar - der Jubilar (celebrant of the day)
-är - der Sekretär (secretary)
-or - der Doktor (doctor)

Note: inanimate nouns with suffixes <-ent>, <-at>, <-et> can be either masculine or neuter: der Kontinent - das Patent, der Apparat - das Referat, der Planet - das Alphabet.

Nouns formed from verb roots without a suffix (often with a change in the root vowel)
der Ga ng - (from ge hen)
der Gru ß - (from grü ßen)
der Spru ng - (from spri ngen), But das Spiel

2.1. Feminine (by meaning)

- female persons - die Frau(woman), but das Mädchen (see neuter gender)
- female animals - die Kuh(cow), but das Huhn(chicken), das Schaf(sheep)
- names of trees - die Birke(birch), But der Ahorn(maple)
- names of colors - die Aster(aster), Butder Mohn(poppy), der Kaktus(cactus)
- names of berries - die Himbeere(raspberry)
- name of fruits and vegetables - die Birne(pear), But der Apfel(apple), der Pfirsich(peach), der Kohl(cabbage), der Kurbis(pumpkin)
- most German rivers - die Elbe, die Oder, die Spree, But der Rhein, der Main, der Neckar

2.2. Feminine (by form)

Nouns with suffixes:
-in die Laborantin (lab assistant)
-ung –die Übung (exercise)
-heit –die Freiheit (freedom)
-keit—die Möglichkeit (possibility)
-schaft -die Landschaft (landscape)
-ei—die Malerei (painting)

Foreign words with stressed suffixes:
-ie -die Chemie (chemistry)
-tät —die Universität (university)
-tion –die Station (station)
-ur —die Kultur (culture)
-ik —die Physik (physics)
-age —die Reportage (report)
-ade –die Fassade (facade)
-anz —die Ambulanz (outpatient clinic)
-enz —die Existenz (existence)

Most nouns with suffix -e (mostly two syllables):
die Liebe (love)
die Kälte (cold)
die Hilfe (help)
die Lampe (lamp)

Note: there are also a number of nouns masculine ending in -e: der Kollege, der Russe, der Junge, der Name, der Gedanke, der Käse and several nouns neuter: das Ende, das Interesse, das Auge.

Nouns formed from verbs using a suffix -t:
die Fahrt (riding)
die Kunst (art)
die Macht (power)

Cheat sheets on the topic to save and use:

3.2. Neuter (form)

Nouns with suffixes:
-chen—das Mädchen (girl)
-lein -das Tischlein (table)
-(s)tel —das Fünftel (one fifth)

Most nouns with suffixes:
-tum
das Eigentum (property), But der Reichtum, der Irrtum -nis
das Verhältnis (attitude), But die Kenntnis, die Erlaubnis

Foreign words (objects and abstract concepts) ending in:
-(i)um—das Stadium (stadium)
-ett —das Kabinett (office)
-ment —das Document (document)
-ma-das Drama (drama)
-o —das Kino (cinema)

Prefixed nouns Ge-:
das Ge wässer (water)
das Ge Birge (mountain range)
das Ge mälde (picture)

Substantivized infinitives:
das Laufen (running) - from laufen (to run)
das Lesen (reading) - from lesen (read)

The noun is Der Substantiv. Gender of nouns in German.

It is very easy to distinguish a noun in German from other parts of speech - it is always written with capital letters: das Land, die Mitte, der See, die Menschen.

Since in Russian you can determine the gender of nouns by their ending, in German this can be done using the article: the article DER corresponds to the masculine gender in Russian, DIE to the feminine, DAS to the neuter and DIE to .
For example:

It should be noted that the gender of nouns in German and Russian in most cases does not coincide, for example, the noun das Boot (boat) in German is neuter, but in Russian it is feminine, or vice versa die Sonne (sun) in German in the language it is feminine, and in Russian it is neuter. This is just one example, and, as already mentioned, there are many more discrepancies in gender than matches. Therefore, when learning new words, they should be memorized immediately with the German article, and not automatically transfer the gender of the Russian noun to German.

In dictionaries, the gender of nouns is indicated as follows:

m (lat. maskulinum)– masculine, i.e. der,
f (lat. feminine)– female, i.e. die, and
n (lat. neutrum)– neuter gender, i.e. das.

The plural is not indicated in dictionaries, since it is formed from all nouns in one way - using the article die(attention: see “use of article”).

There are several rules to help determine the gender of a German noun.

Feminine

1. Ending in suffixes -in, -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ei, -ie, -ik, -ion,- tion, -tät, -ur.

For example: die Lehrerin, die Zeitung, die Freiheit, die Neuigkeit, die Landwirtschaft, die Partei, die Sympatie, die Politik, die Union, die Kommunikation, die Aktivität, die Kultur.

2. Cardinal numbers as a noun: die Eins (one), die Zwei (two), die Sechs (six).

3. Female creatures (except for the word "girl" das Mädchen!): die Frau, die Ärztin, die Praktikantin.

Masculine are the following nouns:

1. Denoting cardinal directions, seasons, months and days of the week: der Norden, der Süden, der Westen, der Osten, der Winter, der Sommer, der März, der Dienstag.

2. Denoting precipitation: der Regen, der Nebel, der Frost.

3. Masculine creatures: der Mann, der Fahrer, der Praktikant.

Neuter are:

1. Nouns ending in suffixes -chen, -lein, um-, -ment, -al.

The suffixes -chen, -lein are used to form the diminutive form of nouns). For example: das Vögelchen, das Fischlein, das Museum, das Monument, das Spital.

2. Nouns formed from a verb: das Leben, das Lesen, das Turnen.

3. Nouns with the prefix ge - and suffix -(d)e: das Gemüse, das Gebäude, das Gemälde.

4. Nouns denoting young animals: das Fohlen, das Kalb, das Ferkel.

5. Most countries (used with an article only in combination with an adjective), e.g. Das weite Russland, das kalte Schweden.

There are several country names that belong to a different gender and are always used with the definite article:

Feminine:
Die Schweiz, die Slovakei, die Sowjetunion, die Ukraine

Masculine:
Der Iran, der Iraq, der Libanon

Plural:
Die USA, die Niederlande

Wer von euch war schon in der Schweiz?
Meine Eltern fliegen morgen in die USA.

Exercises on the topic “Gender of nouns in German”/ÜBUNGEN

1. Find the translation of the following nouns in the dictionary and determine their gender:

border, car, customs, plant, economy, trip, sea, apartment, plane, ticket, practice, animal, year, food, conversation, earth, rain, tractor, work, bakery.

Write down the German nouns in three columns according to gender. Compare the gender of German and Russian nouns.

Maskulinum

Feminine

Neutrum

2. Translate the following words into Russian and determine the correspondence of gender in German and Russian.

Maskulinum Feminine Neutrum

Der Mond die Erde das Wasser

Der Westen die Kuh das Wetter
der Bahnhof die Demokratie das Bonbon
der Erfolg die Währung das Blatt
der Staat die Kanzlerin das Ziel
der Baum die Zeit das Land
der Traum die Grenze das Loch
der Einwohner die Reise das Meer
der Wunsch die Stadt das Schwein

3. Find the corresponding translation in the right column simple sentences in the left.

1. Deutschland liegt im Zentrum Europas.	a) At breakfast he always reads the morning newspaper.
2. Auf dem Bauernhof gibt es Schweine, Ziegen, Hühner, Kühe und Pferde.	b) The rain prevented us from working in the field.
3. Das Fenster in meinem Zimmer geht nicht auf.	c) There are pigs, goats, chickens, cows and horses on the farm.
4. Beim Frühstück liest er immer seine Morgenzeitung.	d) Germany lies in the center of Europe.
5. Die Reise von Russland nach Deutschland mit dem Bus dauert etwa 24 Stunden.	e) I always fly to Russia by plane.
6. An der Grenze werden alle Autos kontrolliert.	f) It doesn’t open in my room window.
7. Der Regen störte uns bei den Feldarbeiten.	g) A trip from Russia to Germany by bus lasts approximately 24 hours.
8. Nach Russland fliege ich immer mit dem Flugzeug.	h) All cars are checked at the border.

4.Write down all the words that are new to you in a separate notebook and learn them!

Today we will look at the gender of nouns in German. As in the Russian language, there are three genders in German: feminine, masculine and neuter. But! The fact that in Russian the feminine gender in German can be masculine and neuter and vice versa.

You can recognize the gender by the article: die, der, das. But how do you know which article should come before a particular noun? No way. The best thing you can do is to learn the word immediately along with the article. But there are still some clues...

Read the introductory article about articles here

The gender of nouns in German can be determined by the subject matter of the words:

Some words belonging to one or another thematic group are of one kind. Not always, of course. But coincidences can be observed.

For example, days of the week, months and seasons are exclusively masculine: der Freitag, der Mai, der Sommer. Parts of the day too, but there is a small exception here: die Nacht is feminine.

In addition, the masculine gender includes professions (initially, if you did not add the ending -in - then it will turn into a feminine profession), parts of the world, weather phenomena and precipitation, car brands, alcoholic drinks (except for beer, which is neuter: das Bier ).

I prepared this visual picture especially for you:

What German nouns are feminine?

Most plants in German are feminine: trees, flowers and berries and fruits. In general, vegetation more often feminine. Because Mother Nature (feminine) created it: die Rose, die Banane. Although mushrooms are predominantly masculine.

By the way! As I already mentioned above, car brands in German are for men. But: you will probably someday come across: die BMW. Don't grab your head. The explanation for this is the simplest: it means that in front of you is not a car, but a motorcycle. Because motorcycle brands in German are feminine. This is what it is - our beloved and insidious German language)))

Neuter in German are the names of countries (most), continents and many islands, the names of children and cubs, languages, names of hotels (das Kempinski), colors (das Rot), letters (das C). And also verbal nouns, such as: das Lachen - laughter, das Essen - food. And nouns formed from adjectives: das Gute - good.

Genus German nouns can be determined by the endings

Noun endings are also a clue. If, of course, you remember them all.

Feminine gender includes nouns that end in:

- e (majority): die Lampe - lamp, die Erde - earth
- ei: die Bäckerei - bakery, die Schneiderei - atelier
- heit: die Freiheit - freedom, die Krankheit - hospital
- keit: die Wirklichkeit - reality, die Süßigkeit - sweetness
— Schaft: die Freundschaft — friendship
- ung: die Endung - ending, die Heizung - heating
- words of foreign origin ending in - ät, ik, ion, ie, ur, enz: die Universität - university, die Kritik - criticism, die Nation - nation, die Demokratie - democracy, etc.

Masculine gender includes nouns ending in:

- er: der Koffer - suitcase, der Spieler - player
- en: der Rasen - lawn, der Ofen - oven
- ig: der Essig - vinegar, der Honig - honey
- ling: der Zwilling - twin, der Frühling - spring
- words of foreign origin ending in -or, - ist, - ismus: der Organisator - organizer, der Pessimist - pessimist, der Optimismus - optimist

But the following endings give us a signal that this is a neuter noun:

- chen -lein diminutives: das Mäuschen - little mouse, das Mäuslein - little mouse

- ment: das Instrument - instrument, das Dokument - document
- nis: das Geheimnis - secret, das Ergebnis - result
- tum: das Eigentum - property
- um: das Museum - museum, das Zentrum - center

Do you know what I do when I don’t know the exact type, but I need to say the right thing in a given situation? Just shhh, don’t tell anyone about this method. In general: I make the word a diminutive. Instead of Tisch I say Tischchen, instead of Hase I say Haschen. Although this is a dubious method: not all words can have this form. And secondly, the addition of such an ending sometimes entails a change in the root - terrible umlauts may appear there and lead to another error. Sometimes I resort to this mini-method 🙄

So: not all German nouns fall under the above rules. Therefore, the advice remains the same: learn the word with its article and practice more often. Only constant concentration on nouns and their gender gives results. There are also special online exercises on the Internet for determining the genus, you can try it. And yes: don’t be afraid to make a mistake in conversation and use the wrong article, because even Germans sometimes confuse the gender of German nouns.

a. by semantic meaning

• male persons:
  der Mann - man, der Onkel - uncle;
• male animals:
  der Bär - bear, der Hahn - rooster;
• names of countries of the world, lakes, mountains and winds:
  der Osten - east, der Bodensee - Lake Constance,
  der Harz - Harz, der Taifun - typhoon;
• names of seasons, months and days of the week:
  der Sommer - summer, der Januar - January, der Sonntag - Sunday.

b. according to form

• nouns with suffixes -er, -neg, -ler, -ling:
  der Schlosser - mechanic, der Redner - speaker,
  der Sportler - athlete, der Lehrling - student;
• most of the nouns formed from the stem of the verb without adding a suffix:
  der Lauf (run) - from laufen (to run)
  der Sprung (jump) - from springen (jump);
• foreign language (borrowed from other languages) nouns with suffixes -ist, -ent, -ant, -eur, -är, -or, -ismus:
  der Polizist, der Student, der Aspirant, der Ingenieur, der Militär, der Doktor, der Egoismus.

The feminine gender in German includes:

a. by semantic meaning

nouns meaning:
• female persons:
  die Frau - woman, die Tante - aunt.
  Exception: das Mädchen - girl, girl, das Weib - woman, woman;
• some female animals:
  die Kuh - cow, die Katze - cat.
  Exception: das Schaf - sheep;
• names of most flowers, trees and songbirds:
  die Rose - rose, die Tanne - spruce, die Eiche - oak,
  die Lerche - lark, die Nachtigall - nightingale;
• names of most German rivers:
  die Elbe - Elbe, die Spree - Spree, die Saale - Saale, etc.
  Exception: der Rhein, der Main, der Neckar, der Inn;
• names of rivers that have feminine equivalents in Russian:
  die Wolga - Volga, die Oka - Oka, die Kama - Kama ( except: der Ob - Ob).

b. according to form

• nouns with suffixes -in, -ung, -keit, -heit, -schaft, -ei:

• -in:
  die Sängerin - singer
  die Bärin - she-bear
• -ung:
  die Forderung - requirement
  die Zeitung - newspaper
• - keit:
  die Möglichkeit - opportunity
  die Richtigkeit - correctness
• -heit:
  die Kindheit - childhood
  die Neuheit - news
• - schaft:
  die Wirtschaft - farming
  die Bereitschaft - readiness
• -ei:
  die Bäckerei - bakery
  die Bücherei - library;

• borrowed nouns with suffixes -ie, -ik, -ion, -tion, -tät, -ur:
  die Chemie, die Mathematik, die Million, die Organisation, die Fakultät, die Natur.

The neuter gender in German includes:

a. by semantic meaning

• names of parts of the world, countries and cities:
  (das) Europa - Europe, (das) China - China, (das) Belgien - Belgium,
  (das) München - Munich, (das) Prag - Prague, etc.
  Exception: country names ending with -ei, -au:
  die Mongolei - Mongolia, die Moldau - Moldova, and also die Schweiz - Switzerland,
  der Iran - Iran, die Ukraine - Ukraine and some others;
• names of metals:
  das Eisen - iron, das Gold - gold, etc.
  Exception: der Stahl - steel, der Schwefel - sulfur;
• names of children (baby animals):
  das Kind - child, das Kalb - calf, das Lamm - lamb, etc.;
• letter names:
  das "A", das "Z".

b. according to form

• diminutive nouns with suffixes -chen, -lein and with suffixes -tel, -tum:
  das Häuschen - house, das Büchlein - little book,
  das Viertel - quarter, das Eigentum - property;
• nouns formed from adjectives by means of a suffix -e and denoting abstract concepts:
  das Neue - new, das Interessante - interesting;
• borrowed nouns with suffix -um, -ment:
  das Museum - museum, das Dokument - document.

Some German nouns, with the same spelling and pronunciation, have different meanings depending on their gender:
• die See (sea) - der See (lake);
  die Steuer (tax) - das Steuer (steering wheel), etc.

The gender of nouns in German and Russian often does not match, so it is necessary to remember nouns with a definite article.

Compare:

• das Pferd (neuter) - horse (feminine);
  der Hund (masculine) - dog (feminine);
  der Baum (masculine) - tree (neuter);
  die Stunde (feminine) - lesson (masculine);
  der Spiegel (masculine) - mirror (neuter), etc.

The gender of any noun can be checked in a dictionary. In dictionaries, the following abbreviations are used to indicate the gender of a noun:
• m(from the Latin word masculinum- masculine);
• f(from the Latin word feminine- feminine);
• n(from the Latin word neutral- neuter).

Nouns in German, as in Russian, can be of three genders: masculine, feminine and neuter:

der (ein) Mann (m) – man (masculine – Maskulinum),
die (eine) Frau (f) – woman (feminine – Femininum),
das (ein) Fenster (n) – window (neuter gender – Neutrum).

Gender in German, as you can see, is expressed through the article.

The man will, of course, be masculine, and the woman will be feminine.

das Weib (woman, woman) and das Mädchen (girl, girl) are neuter.

But with inanimate objects it’s more difficult. They, as in Russian, are not necessarily of the neuter, “neutral” gender, but belong to different genders. Closet in Russian for some reason it’s a man, but shelf- a woman, although they have no sexual characteristics. It's the same in German. The trouble is that gender in Russian and German often does not match, that Germans see the gender of objects differently. It may (by chance) coincide, it may not. For example, der Schrank (cabinet)- masculine das Regal (shelf)– average.

You should try to remember the word in German with the article!

Sometimes you can guess by the shape of a word what kind it is. For example, by how the word ends. Like in Russian words for -ost, – tion, – iya, – aya, – tsa, – ka, – a...– feminine, and German words in:

die Melo die– melody, die Situa tion– situation, die Kult ur– culture, die Tend enz - trend, die Speziali tät– a traditional dish (of a region), die Maler ei– painting, die Fest ung– fortress, die Frei heit– freedom, die Möglich keit– opportunity, die Wissen schaft- science...

Some suffixes that in Russian correspond to the masculine gender, in German, on the contrary, are a sign of the feminine gender: die Reg ion – region, die Diagn ose– diagnosis, die Gar age- garage…

Words ending with -e, most often feminine: die Wanne – bath, die Woche – week. This -e corresponds to the Russian ending -a (-i). But in Russian there are also masculine words with a similar ending (uncle, cabin boy). Same in German: der Junge - boy.

Note also that the words in -ling always masculine: Lehr ling (student, journeyman).

Many one-syllable (sometimes two-syllable - due to the prefix) nouns formed from verbs belong to the masculine gender:

der Beginn< – beginnen (начало – начинать), der Blick < – blicken (взгляд, вид – взглянуть), der Klang < – klingen (звук – звучать), der Begriff < – begreifen (понятие – понимать), der Sieg < – siegen (победа – побеждать). But: das Spiel< – spielen (игра – играть).

The matter is also greatly simplified by the fact that you can take any verb in the indefinite form and attach a neuter article to it. The process name will be:

das Sprechen< – sprechen (говорение – говорить), das Leben < – leben (жизнь – жить), das Essen < – essen (еда – есть).

Signs that a word is masculine:

Signs that a word is feminine:

Signs that a word is neuter:

It is interesting that some nouns, depending on their gender, have different meanings. For example:

der See (lake) – die See (sea),
der Band (volume) – das Band (tape),
das Steuer (steering wheel, steering wheel) – die Steuer (tax),
der Leiter (leader) – die Leiter (ladder),
der Tor (fool) – das Tor (gate),
der Schild (shield) – das Schild (signboard, tablet),
der Bauer (peasant) – das Bauer (cage)