Gender and the articles: der, die, das, ein, eine
Every German noun is masculine, feminine or neuter; learn the articles der, die, das, ein and eine, and the clues that help you guess the gender of a noun.
Nouns and articles · Beginner · 15 min · 40 exercises · Goethe A1, High school, College
In English, every noun takes the same article: the table, the lamp, the book. In German, every noun has a gender (das Genus): masculine, feminine or neuter. The gender decides which word for „the“ and „a“ you use. This is true for people and for things: a table is masculine, a lamp is feminine, a book is neuter. In this lesson all nouns are in the nominative (der Nominativ), the form used for the subject of a sentence and after sein.
Three genders, three definite articles
The definite article („the“) is der for masculine nouns, die for feminine nouns and das for neuter nouns: der Tisch, die Lampe, das Buch. The indefinite article („a, an“) is ein for masculine and neuter nouns and eine for feminine nouns: ein Tisch, eine Lampe, ein Buch. In the plural, all three genders use die, and there is no plural of ein. Remember too that every German noun starts with a capital letter, wherever it stands in the sentence.
The articles in the nominative
| Gender | the | a / an | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | der | ein | der Tisch, ein Tisch (table) |
| feminine | die | eine | die Lampe, eine Lampe (lamp) |
| neuter | das | ein | das Buch, ein Buch (book) |
| plural (all genders) | die | no article | die Bücher, Bücher (books) |
Ein first, then der, die, das
- Das ist ein Tisch. Der Tisch ist neu.This is a table. The table is new.new information takes ein; known information takes der
- Das ist eine Lampe. Die Lampe ist schön.This is a lamp. The lamp is beautiful.feminine: eine, die
- Das ist ein Buch. Das Buch ist interessant.This is a book. The book is interesting.neuter: ein, das
- Der Lehrer ist nett und die Lehrerin ist auch nett.The (male) teacher is nice, and the (female) teacher is nice too.people usually follow their natural gender
- Das Mädchen ist zehn Jahre alt.The girl is ten years old.neuter because of the ending -chen
Clues to the gender
For most things the gender cannot be guessed from the meaning, but the ending of a noun often gives it away. Nouns in -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft and -ion are always feminine. Nouns in -chen and -lein (small things) are always neuter, even for people: das Mädchen. Male persons and jobs in -er are masculine (der Lehrer), and adding -in makes them feminine (die Lehrerin). Days, months and seasons are masculine: der Montag, der Januar, der Sommer.
der
- male persons: der Vater
- jobs in -er: der Lehrer
- days, months, seasons: der Montag
die
- female persons: die Mutter
- jobs in -in: die Lehrerin
- -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ion: die Zeitung
- most nouns in -e: die Lampe
das
- -chen, -lein: das Mädchen
- verbs used as nouns: das Essen
Typical signals
| Gender | Signal | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| der | male persons, jobs in -er | der Vater, der Lehrer, der Bäcker |
| der | days, months, seasons | der Montag, der Januar, der Sommer |
| die | female persons, jobs in -in | die Mutter, die Lehrerin, die Ärztin |
| die | -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ion | die Zeitung, die Freiheit, die Möglichkeit, die Freundschaft, die Nation |
| die | most nouns in -e | die Lampe, die Schule, die Straße |
| das | -chen, -lein | das Mädchen, das Brötchen, das Häuschen |
| das | verbs used as nouns | das Essen, das Leben |
Compound nouns: the last part decides
German loves to glue nouns together into one long word. The gender of a compound noun is always the gender of its last part: das Haus + die Tür = die Haustür (front door), because Tür is feminine. The first part only adds detail. So when you meet a long word, look at the end: der Tisch + die Lampe = die Tischlampe.
Compound nouns
- das Haus + die Tür = die Haustürhouse + door = the front doorfeminine like die Tür
- die Kinder + das Zimmer = das Kinderzimmerchildren + room = the children's roomneuter like das Zimmer
- der Tisch + die Lampe = die Tischlampetable + lamp = the table lampfeminine like die Lampe
- das Haus + der Schlüssel = der Hausschlüsselhouse + key = the house keymasculine like der Schlüssel
- Die Haustür ist offen.The front door is open.
Never learn a noun alone. Learn der Tisch, die Lampe, das Buch as one unit, as if the article were the first syllable of the word. Many learners use three colors in their vocabulary notebook: blue for der, red for die, green for das. The article is worth the effort: almost every later topic (cases, adjectives, pronouns) depends on it.
Do not trust the English meaning or the natural gender of a thing. Das Mädchen (the girl) is neuter because of -chen, and objects are not all neuter: der Tisch, die Lampe. For the same reason, „it“ is not always es in German: a masculine thing is er and a feminine thing is sie (Der Tisch ist neu. Er ist groß.). Also watch ein and eine: eine is only for feminine nouns, so say ein Buch, never eine Buch.
The exercises of this lesson
40 corrected exercises in three sessions (discovery, practice, challenge): multiple choice (5), fill in the gap (11), find the mistake (5), word order (1), rewrite (5), translation (6), gap text (3), matching (2), sorting (2). Every answer is corrected immediately, with the rule that applies.