How to Know Der, Die or Das: German Noun Gender Rules

Die is the most common gender there, with 24,037 nouns, ahead of der with 21,126 and das with 15,750. Another 603 nouns have two standard genders. To look up a single noun, or a list of them, use the der die das checker.

Feminine endings that take die

Eleven endings point to die. Two of them, -keit and -tät, hold for every noun in our dictionary that has them, and -ung, -heit and -schaft come close. The table shows each feminine ending with an example and how often it holds: how many of the nouns with that ending are feminine, out of all the nouns in our dictionary that end that way.

The exceptions are few, and some have a reason behind them. Der Sprung, der Schwung and der Ursprung end in -ung, but in those words the -ung is part of the stem, not an ending added to it. The -ion ending misses more often, holding 836 times out of 890, and its exceptions include der Spion, der Champion and das Stadion. For -ik there's das Plastik, and for -ie there are das Genie and das Knie.

Masculine endings that take der

Six endings point to der. Only -ismus holds for every noun that has it, all 423 in our dictionary, and the other five each have exceptions. The table shows each masculine ending with an example and how often it holds: how many of the nouns with that ending take der, out of all the nouns that end that way.

The exceptions to learn first are das Labor and das Moor, which end in -or, and das Reich, which ends in -ich. Those two endings are good guesses for a new word, but not safe ones: -or holds 337 times out of 369, and -ich 183 times out of 199.

Neuter endings that take das

Six endings point to das. One is -chen, the "little" ending, which is why das Mädchen is neuter. Another, -lein, holds for every noun in our dictionary that has it, all 226. The table shows each neuter ending with an example and how often it holds: how many of the nouns with that ending take das, out of all the nouns that end that way.

The -chen ending holds 1,274 times out of 1,368. Its exceptions include der Kuchen, der Knochen and der Drachen, where the -chen isn't the "little" ending at all. The other endings have exceptions of their own: der Moment for -ment, and der Irrtum and der Reichtum for -tum.

The -um count leaves out nouns in -aum. Der Traum, der Baum and der Raum end in -aum, which isn't the -um of das Museum, so they don't count against the rule. Counted that way, -um holds 444 times out of 451.

One pair looks alike but splits: nouns in -ett take das, and nouns in -ette take die.

Nouns ending in -e and -er

Two endings cover far more nouns than any other: 8,449 nouns in our dictionary end in -e, and 7,086 end in -er. Both rules hold most of the time, and both have plenty of everyday exceptions, so treat them as first guesses.

Most nouns ending in -e take die: 7,265 of the 8,449, or about 86 percent. The everyday exceptions include der Name, der Junge, der Gedanke, der Käse, der Kaffee and der Tee, and das Auge, das Ende and das Gebäude.

Most nouns ending in -er take der: 5,980 of the 7,086, or about 84 percent. The everyday exceptions include die Mutter, die Tochter, die Schwester and die Nummer, and das Fenster, das Wasser, das Messer, das Zimmer, das Bier and das Tier. Three of those are women in a family, and people usually take the gender that matches their sex, as the rules by meaning explain.

The counts take the longest ending first, so a noun in -ie, -age or -ette is counted under its own rule, not under -e.

Compound nouns take the gender of their last part

A compound noun takes its gender from its last part. Das Kinderzimmer is neuter because das Zimmer is, and die Kinderzimmerlampe is feminine because die Lampe is. What comes in front makes no difference. Kinder is a plural, and every plural takes die, yet das Kinderzimmer takes das. A few compounds break the rule: der Mittwoch is masculine, though die Woche is feminine.

That makes long nouns easier than they look. Find the last part, and everything above applies to it, exceptions included: das Zimmer is one of the -er exceptions, and it passes its das on to das Kinderzimmer. The der die das checker uses the same rule for a compound it doesn't have. Kinderzimmerlampe gets die, from die Lampe, marked as a guess.

Rules that go by meaning

Some rules go by what a noun means instead of how it ends. These are the rules textbooks teach, and each one holds for the example words below in our dictionary.

• Days, months and seasons take der: der Montag, der Januar, der Sommer. In the dative their article is dem, which gives am Montag, im Januar and im Sommer (an dem, in dem). The German two-way prepositions guide has the other time expressions and contractions.
• A verb used as a noun takes das: das Essen, das Leben.
• A number used as a noun takes die: die Eins.
• People usually take the gender of their sex: der Vater, die Mutter. But das Mädchen and das Kind are neuter.
• Every plural takes die, whatever the gender of the singular: die Hunde, die Häuser.

Das Mädchen ends in -chen, and there the ending wins over the meaning. Keep the plural rule in mind when you make flashcards. Die Hunde tells you nothing about der Hund, so learn each noun with its singular article.

Do nouns starting with Ge- take das?

Nouns that begin with Ge- don't take das as a rule, though you may have read that they do. Of the nouns in our dictionary that begin with Ge-, 437 take der, 560 take die and 473 take das. Only about a third are neuter, and more of them take die than das.

That's a little more neuter than German nouns as a whole, where about a quarter take das, but nowhere near enough for a rule. So Ge- tells you very little. Der Gedanke and das Gebäude both begin with it, and neither follows the -e rule either, so those are two to learn with their article.

How to learn German noun genders

Use the rules where they hold, and learn the rest with the article attached.

1. Learn every noun with its article and its plural. Put der Hund, die Hunde on the flashcard, not Hund. Every plural takes die, so the plural can't tell you the gender later.
2. Start with the endings that almost never miss. That's -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft and -tät for die, -ismus for der and -lein for das. Add -chen next, along with der Kuchen.
3. Treat -e and -er as first guesses. Guess die for -e and der for -er, and learn the everyday exceptions as you meet them: der Name, das Auge, die Mutter, das Fenster.
4. Look at the last part of a long noun. Kinderzimmerlampe takes die because Lampe does.
5. Learn the rest one by one. Der Hund and das Haus match none of the rules in this guide, so they're learned with their article or not at all.

To practice, the der die das quiz asks for the genders of 2,440 everyday nouns, and its endings set takes only the nouns an ending decides, with their exceptions. After each answer it shows the rule, where there is one, and how often it holds. To look up a noun, or a list of 100, the der die das checker gives the article, plural and meaning, and copies the whole list with its articles for your flashcards. Run the endings set a few times, and the exceptions become the nouns you know best.

Frequently asked questions

Licenses and credits

German nouns, genders and plurals come from English Wiktionary through kaikki.org (CC BY-SA 4.0).