Der, Die, Das: a Working Table
Every German noun is masculine, feminine or neuter, and the article is part of the word: you learn der Tisch, not Tisch. There is no rule that covers everything, but there are endings that decide the gender almost every time, and they cover more nouns than most learners expect. This page is the table; the reason German has three genders at all is a story for the blog post linked below.
The rule that beats every other rule
Learn the article with the noun, every time, as one word: derTisch, dieLampe, dasBuch. A noun learned without its article has to be learned twice.
Photographing the thing helps more than it should: the article attaches to the picture of your own table, not to an abstract word, which is why Vocabloot always shows the noun with its article.
Endings that are almost always der
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-er, for people and agents
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der Lehrer, der Bäcker, der Computer
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-ling
-
der Frühling, der Schmetterling, der Lehrling
-
-ig and -ich
-
der Honig, der König, der Teppich
-
-ismus
-
der Tourismus, der Kapitalismus
-
-ant and -ent, for people
-
der Student, der Elefant, der Praktikant
But das Restaurant, das Talent
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-or
-
der Motor, der Doktor, der Autor
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days, months, seasons
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der Montag, der Mai, der Winter
-
weather and compass points
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der Regen, der Schnee, der Wind, der Norden
But das Wetter
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makes of car
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der BMW, der Audi, der Golf
-
alcoholic drinks
-
der Wein, der Schnaps, der Sekt
Except das Bier
Endings that are almost always die
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-ung
-
die Zeitung, die Wohnung, die Übung
Every -ung noun, no exceptions
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-heit and -keit
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die Freiheit, die Gesundheit, die Möglichkeit
No exceptions
-
-schaft
-
die Freundschaft, die Wirtschaft
No exceptions
-
-ion
-
die Nation, die Information, die Station
-
-tät
-
die Universität, die Qualität
-
-ik
-
die Musik, die Politik, die Fabrik
-
-ur
-
die Natur, die Kultur, die Figur
-
-ei, -ie, -enz, -anz
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die Bäckerei, die Familie, die Konferenz, die Distanz
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most nouns ending in -e
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die Lampe, die Straße, die Blume, die Woche
About nine in ten; the exceptions are below
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trees, flowers, most rivers
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die Eiche, die Rose, die Elbe, die Donau
But der Rhein, der Main
Endings that are almost always das
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-chen and -lein
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das Mädchen, das Brötchen, das Fräulein
Every diminutive, which is why a girl is neuter
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-ment
-
das Instrument, das Dokument, das Apartment
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-um
-
das Zentrum, das Museum, das Datum
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-ma
-
das Thema, das Drama, das Klima
-
-tum
-
das Eigentum, das Wachstum
But der Reichtum, der Irrtum
-
Ge- collectives
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das Gebäude, das Gemüse, das Gebirge
But die Geschichte, der Gedanke
-
verbs used as nouns
-
das Essen, das Leben, das Schwimmen
Any infinitive
-
colours and languages as nouns
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das Rot, das Deutsch, das Englisch
-
metals and chemical elements
-
das Gold, das Silber, das Eisen
But der Stahl
-
young people and animals
-
das Kind, das Baby, das Kalb, das Lamm
Common nouns that break the pattern
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der Junge
YOONG-uh
-
the boy
Ends in -e but masculine, like der Name, der Käse, der Kollege
-
das Auge
OW-guh
-
the eye
Ends in -e but neuter, with das Ende and das Interesse
-
das Bier
beer
-
the beer
The one alcoholic drink that is not der
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die Butter
BOOT-ter
-
the butter
Austria and Switzerland say der Butter
-
das Mädchen
MAIT-khen
-
the girl
Neuter because of -chen, not because of the girl
-
der Käse
KAY-zuh
-
the cheese
-
das Restaurant
res-toh-RANG
-
the restaurant
Not der, despite -ant
-
die Person
pair-ZOHN
-
the person
Feminine for anyone, even a man
-
der Rhein
rine
-
the Rhine
A masculine river
-
das Wetter
VET-ter
-
the weather
Neuter, though rain, snow and wind are der
The plural is always die
Whatever the singular article, the plural takes die: der Tisch, die Tische; das Kind, die Kinder; die Lampe, die Lampen. So die is doing two jobs, feminine singular and every plural, and only the noun ending tells you which.
How a noun forms its plural is a separate question with its own patterns; the plural form is worth learning with the word, the same way as the article.
How the three change in the four cases
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der Mann, die Frau, das Kind
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nominative: the subject
Der Mann liest.
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den Mann, die Frau, das Kind
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accusative: the direct object
Ich sehe den Mann. Only der changes
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dem Mann, der Frau, dem Kind
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dative: to or for, and after many prepositions
Ich helfe dem Mann. Ich gebe der Frau das Buch
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des Mannes, der Frau, des Kindes
-
genitive: of, possession
das Auto des Mannes. Rare in speech, common in writing
-
die Männer, die Frauen, die Kinder
-
plural nominative and accusative
die Kinder spielen
-
den Männern, den Frauen, den Kindern
-
plural dative
mit den Kindern. The noun adds -n too
If you are guessing
Guess die. Just under half of German nouns are feminine, and the -e ending alone accounts for a large share of everyday objects. Der is next; das is the smallest group by count, though it holds many of the most common words.
A wrong article is understood. Germans hear it the way you hear a foreign accent: noticed, forgiven, and not worth freezing over mid-sentence.
- Ich hätte gern die Kaffee. Den Kaffee.I would like the coffee: corrected mid-sentence, which is fine.
- Wo ist der Bahnhof? Wo ist die Toilette? Wo ist das Museum?Three questions, three articles, one pattern.
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