Question 1

Which article goes with -e?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 2

Which article goes with -ung?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 3

Which article goes with -ie?

Accepted Answer

Nouns ending in -ie are feminine — die Biologie, die Fotografie, die Batterie. Most came into German from French or Greek and kept a feminine ending.

Question 4

Which article goes with -ion?

Accepted Answer

Nouns ending in -ion are always feminine.

Question 5

Which article goes with -in (a woman)?

Accepted Answer

Add -in to a masculine job or nationality and you get the feminine word, always with die: der Lehrer → die Lehrerin, der Arzt → die Ärztin. The pair to the -er rule, and between them they cover most words for people.

Question 6

Which article goes with -heit / -keit?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 7

Which article goes with -ur?

Accepted Answer

Nouns ending in -ur are usually feminine.

Question 8

Which article goes with -ik?

Accepted Answer

Nouns ending in -ik are almost always feminine.

Question 9

Which article goes with -schaft?

Accepted Answer

Nouns ending in -schaft are always feminine.

Question 10

Which article goes with -tät?

Accepted Answer

Nouns ending in -tät are always feminine.

Question 11

Which article goes with -chen / -lein?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 12

Which article goes with -um?

Accepted Answer

Nouns ending in -um are usually neuter.

Question 13

Which article goes with -ment?

Accepted Answer

Nouns ending in -ment are usually neuter.

Question 14

Which article goes with Ge-?

Accepted Answer

Collective nouns starting with Ge- are usually neuter.

Question 15

Which article goes with Days, months, seasons?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 16

Which article goes with -ant, -ent, -ist, -at?

Accepted Answer

A large family of masculine nouns, nearly all of them people: der Student, der Polizist, der Präsident, der Soldat, der Demokrat, der Philosoph. The endings -ant, -anz, -ent, -enz, -ist, -it, -at, -krat, -nom, -oph and -arch all belong here. Most are also n-nouns, taking -en in every case but the nominative — der Student, but ich sehe den Studenten.

Question 17

Which article goes with -er (person/device)?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 18

Which article goes with -ling?

Accepted Answer

Nouns ending in -ling are always masculine.

Question 19

Which article goes with -ismus?

Accepted Answer

Nouns ending in -ismus are always masculine.

Question 20

Which article goes with Rain, snow & wind?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 21

A compound takes the gender of its LAST word — how does that work in German?

Accepted Answer

German glues words together, and only the final one decides the article: die Tür → die Haustür, der Zug → der Hochgeschwindigkeitszug, das Zimmer → das Wohnzimmer. Read a long noun backwards to the last whole word you recognise and you have its gender, however new the word is. Checked against every compound in this app: it holds for 99% of them.

der, die or das?

-e → mostly die

-ung → die

-ie → die

-ion → die

-in (a woman) → die

-heit / -keit → die

-ur → die

-ik → die

-schaft → die

-tät → die

-chen / -lein → das

-um → das

-ment → das

Ge- → often das

Days, months, seasons → der

-ant, -ent, -ist, -at → der

-er (person/device) → der

-ling → der

-ismus → der

Rain, snow & wind → der

A compound takes the gender of its LAST word

What about the rest?

Why gender matters more than it looks