der, die or das? The German noun gender rules that actually work

Learn the endings first. A noun whose ending follows one of these patterns is predictable, which means the only words you have to memorise are the ones that break them.

-e → mostly die

About 90% of nouns ending in -e are feminine — but watch for famous exceptions like der Name and der Käse.

die Apotheke pharmacy
die Aufgabe task
die Banane banana
die Biene bee
die Blume flower
die Brille glasses
die Brücke bridge
die Dusche shower

-ung → die

The suffix -ung is always feminine (die Zeitung, die Wohnung). Watch out for a few words that merely end in -ung: der Sprung, der Schwung, der Ursprung.

die Bewegung movement
die Entscheidung decision
die Erfahrung experience
die Hoffnung hope
die Leistung performance
die Lösung solution
die Meinung opinion
die Ordnung order

-heit / -keit → die

Nouns ending in -heit or -keit are always feminine.

die Freiheit freedom
die Fähigkeit ability
die Gesundheit health
die Krankheit illness
die Möglichkeit possibility
die Schwierigkeit difficulty
die Schönheit beauty
die Sicherheit safety

-ion → die

Nouns ending in -ion are always feminine.

die Diskussion discussion
die Information information
die Nation nation
die Portion portion
die Position position
die Region region
die Religion religion
die Situation situation

-schaft → die

Nouns ending in -schaft are always feminine.

die Botschaft embassy
die Freundschaft friendship
die Gesellschaft society
die Landschaft landscape
die Mannschaft team
die Wirtschaft economy
die Wissenschaft science
die Zeitschrift magazine

-ik → die

Nouns ending in -ik are almost always feminine.

die Fabrik factory
die Kritik criticism
die Mathematik mathematics
die Musik music
die Physik physics
die Politik politics
die Technik technology

-ur → die

Nouns ending in -ur are usually feminine.

die Figur figure
die Kultur culture
die Literatur literature
die Natur nature
die Reparatur repair
die Tastatur keyboard
die Temperatur temperature

-tät → die

Nouns ending in -tät are always feminine.

die Aktivität activity
die Identität identity
die Qualität quality
die Realität reality
die Universität university

-ment → das

Nouns ending in -ment are usually neuter.

das Argument argument
das Dokument document
das Element element
das Experiment experiment
das Instrument instrument
das Medikament medicine
das Parlament parliament

Ge- → often das

Collective nouns starting with Ge- are usually neuter.

das Gebirge mountains
das Gebäude building
das Gefühl feeling
das Gemüse vegetables
das Geschenk present, gift
das Gespräch conversation
das Gewitter thunderstorm

-chen / -lein → das

Diminutives ending in -chen or -lein are always neuter — even das Mädchen (the girl).

das Brötchen bread roll
das Kaninchen rabbit
das Mädchen girl
das Märchen fairy tale

-um → das

Nouns ending in -um are usually neuter.

das Datum date
das Museum museum
das Studium studies, degree
das Zentrum center

-er (person/device) → der

Nouns for people or devices that do something, ending in -er, are masculine.

der Arbeiter worker
der Besucher visitor
der Bäcker baker
der Computer computer
der Drucker printer
der Fahrer driver
der Fernseher television
der Kopfhörer headphones

Days, months, seasons → der

Days of the week, months, and seasons are masculine.

der Frühling spring
der Montag Monday
der Sommer summer
der Winter winter

-ling → der

Nouns ending in -ling are always masculine.

der Lehrling apprentice
der Schmetterling butterfly
der Zwilling twin

-ismus → der

Nouns ending in -ismus are always masculine.

der Journalismus journalism
der Optimismus optimism
der Tourismus tourism

Rain, snow & wind → der

Precipitation and wind are masculine: der Regen, der Schnee, der Wind, der Frost. (Weather overall is mixed — die Sonne and die Wolke are feminine.)

der Regen rain
der Schnee snow
der Wind wind

What about the rest?

No set of rules covers every German noun, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. Compounds take the gender of their last noun (die Haustür, because it is a Tür). Beyond that, the honest answer is repetition — which is exactly what a spaced-repetition drill is for: it shows you the words you personally keep getting wrong, and stops showing you the ones you don't.

Why gender matters more than it looks

Getting the article wrong is not only a small mistake in itself — it cascades. German changes the article again depending on the noun's job in the sentence (the four cases), and those changes are built on the gender. Get der wrong and every case form after it is wrong too. That is why this is worth drilling properly rather than guessing.