Grammatical gender in German
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| German grammar |
|---|
Grammatical gender in German is the way in which German nouns are classified to grammatical genders. Every German noun belongs to one of three genders: masculine, feminine or neuter, and gender differences are only relevant in the singular form of nouns, not the plural.[1][2]
In German, it is an ideal method to learn nouns together with the definite article which shows the gender.[note 1][1][2] However, the form (and especially the ending) of a noun, its meaning and the manner the plural is created can be used to determine the gender of about 80% of nouns.[3]
In addition, German words which would be considered as ‘things’ under the English system can have any gender. This may seem arbitrary to English learners.[2]
Noun forms
Noun endings
Most noun endings (especially derivational suffixes) are always linked with specific genders. The following table summarizes that, and there are very few common exceptions to these rules.[4]
| Masculine endings[a] |
|---|
| -ant, -ast, -ich, -ig, -ismus, -ling, -or, -us |
| Feminine endings[b] |
| -a, -anz, -ei, -enz, -heit, -ie, -ik, -in,[c] -keit,
-schaft, -sion, -tät, -tion, -ung, -ur |
| Neuter endings[d] |
| -chen, -lein, -ma, -ment, -sel, -tel, -tum, -um |
- ^ Except das Labor, das Genus (gender) and das Tempus (tense).
- ^ Except das Sofa, das Genie, der Atlantik, der Pazifik, das Mosiak, das Abitur, das Futur, das Purpur.
- ^ Chemical terms which end in -in (pronounced [iːn]) are neuter (das Benzin, das Protein).
- ^ Except die Firma, der Streusel, der Irrtum, der Reichtum, der Konsum.
Noun meanings
See also
Notes
- ^ While Donaldson (2007) says that it is imperative to do so, Durrell (2017) only mentions that is an ideal method.
References
- ^ a b Donaldson 2007, p. 33.
- ^ a b c Durrell 2017, p. 1.
- ^ Durrell 2017, pp. 1–2.
- ^ a b Durrell 2017, p. 2.
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.
External links
- Identifying a German Word’s Gender, For Dummies (on the Internet Archive).
- Some Hints on How to Guess Gender, University of Michigan College of LSA (on the Internet Archive).