der, die, das – Gender of Nouns in German Grammar
- der – Masculine Nouns
- die – Feminine Nouns
- das – Neuter Nouns
- Gender of Compound Nouns
- Online exercises to improve your German
- Lingolia Plus German
When to use der, die or das
We use the articles der, die or das depending on the gender of the noun: der for masculine, die for feminine and das for neuter. While native German speakers intuitively know which article to use, it is best for German learners to learn the article together with the noun. Luckily, there are some rules to help you recognise masculine, feminine and neuter nouns in German Grammar.
Study the rules for grammatical gender of German nouns on Lingolia and practise using der, die and das in the exercises.
Example
der – Masculine Nouns
This table outlines the rules for the masculine nouns in German.
| feature | example |
|---|---|
| male people | der Mannthe man, der Präsidentthe president |
| seasons of the year | der Frühlingthe spring, der Sommerthe summer, der Herbstthe autumn, der Winterthe winter (but: das Frühjahrthe springtime) |
| days/months | der Montag, der Dienstag, der Mittwoch, …the Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday... der Januar, der Februar, der März, der April, …the January/February/March/April... |
| types of precipitation | der Regenthe rain, der Schneethe snow, der Hagelthe hail, der Schauerthe showers |
| nouns that end in ling | der Schmetterlingthe butterfly, der Lehrlingthe apprentice |
| nouns that end in ich/ig | der Teppichthe carpet, der Honigthe honey |
| nouns made from verbs without en | der Laufthe run/course (laufento run), der Sitzthe seat (sitzento sit) |
die – Feminine Nouns
This table outlines the rules for the feminine nouns in German.
| feature | example |
|---|---|
| female people | die Frauthe woman, die Präsidentinthe president (but: das Fräuleinthe young lady, das Mädchenthe girl) |
| numbers used as nouns | die Einsthe one |
| nouns ending in ung | die Endungthe ending |
| nouns ending in schaft | die Mannschaftthe team |
| nouns ending in ion | die Diskussionthe discussion |
| nouns ending in heit/keit | die Freiheit, die Heiterkeitthe freedom, the cheerfulness |
| nouns ending in tät | die Identitätthe identity |
| nouns ending in ik | die Musikthe music |
das – Neuter Nouns
This table outlines the rules for the neuter nouns in German.
| feature | example |
|---|---|
| letters of the alphabet | das Athe A |
| nouns ending in lein/chen | das Fräuleinthe young lady, das Mädchenthe girl |
| nouns ending in um | das Museumthe museum, das Aquariumthe aquarium |
| nouns ending in ment | das Experimentthe experiment |
| foreign words ending in ma | das Themathe topic, das Dramathe drama |
| nouns made from verbs in the infinitive | das Laufenthe running, das Essenthe eating |
| nouns made from English verbs ending in ing | das Timingthe timing, das Trainingthe training |
| nouns made from adjectives that are not referring to something particular | das Neuethe new (thing), das Ganzethe entire (thing), das Gleichethe same (thing) (but: Das ist der Neue.This is the new one. – e.g. pupil) |
Gender of Compound Nouns
When a noun is formed from several other nouns combined into one word, the last noun in the word determines the gender of the entire word.
- Example:
- der Tischthe table + das Beinthe leg = das Tischbeinthe table leg