Don't Speak German?

Free beginner's German course

Free beginners' German course German grammar for beginners Free German exercises German vocabulary for beginners Free German listenings German dialogs with transcripts
  • Home
  • Grammar
  • Exercises
  • Vocabulary
  • Listening
  • Dialogues
  • Articles
  • Sitemap
You are here: Home / German Grammar 101 – Gender

German Grammar 101 – Gender

Nouns in German are either masculine, feminine or neuter.

This can easily be seen from the singular definite articles:


“der“ for masculine
“die“ for feminine
“das“ for neuter

Watch out! All German nouns are capitalized, for example:

der Spiegel (mirror) – masculine
die Blume (flower) – feminine
das Auto (car) – neuter

Gender in German is grammatical, unlike in English where it’s natural. In English “wife“ is feminine, “husband“ masculine, but objects like “table“ or “desk“ are neuter.

German nouns for people usually correspond with English nouns e.g.

der Ehemann (husband) – masculine
die Ehefrau (wife) – feminine

But other nouns can be either masculine, feminine or neuter e.g.

der Tisch (table) – masculine
die Gabel (fork) – feminine
das Telefon (telephone) – neuter

One important exception for the gender of people is das Mädchen (girl), which is neuter.

Further examples:

die Tochter (daughter) – feminine
der Bruder (brother) – masculine
die Lampe (lamp) – feminine
das Bett (bed) – neuter
der Kleiderschrank (wardrobe) – masculine

When you learn a new noun, always write and learn it together with its definite article which you should consider a part of the noun. That way you’ll always know its gender and you’ll avoid having problems using the noun correctly in the future.

EXERCISE: 101 Gender | NEXT: 102 Articles

Learning German? Easy Reader Ebooks

‘Easy readers’ are simplified stories with audio to get you reading and listening in German.

Browse material at your level – download FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS:

German Easy Readers

German Beginners’ Course

Grammar
101 Gender
102 Articles
103 Personal Pronouns
104 To be / Sein
105 To Have / Haben
106 Regular Present Tense Verbs
107 Separable Verbs
108 Questions
109 Possessive Adjectives
110 Adjectives


Exercises
101 Gender
102 Articles
103 Personal Pronouns
104 To Be - Sein
105 To Have - Haben
106 Regular Present
107 Separable Verbs
108 Questions
109 Possessive Adjectives
110 Adjectives

Vocabulary lists
101 Numbers
102 Family
103 Greetings
104 Food & Drink
105 Time
106 Rooms
107 City
108 Questions
109 Household Objects
110 Jobs

Listening practice
101 Gender
102 Articles
103 Personal Pronouns
104 To be / Sein
105 To Have / Haben
106 Regular Present Tense Verbs
107 Separable Verbs
108 Questions
109 Possessive Adjectives
110 Adjectives

Dialogues
101 Tourist Information
102 Restaurant
103 Phone Call
104 Directions
105 Shopping
106 Calling In Sick
107 Doctor & Patient
108 Ticket Office
109 Taxi
110 Hotel

Contact us!

info@imparareonline.co.uk
 
 
 
 

Learn other foreign languages for free?

Free Spanish Beginners' Course

Free German Beginners' Course

Free Italian Beginners' Course

Free French Beginners' Course

All Rights Reserved · © Copyright 2015 · Imparareonline Ltd. Registered in England, no.8569282 Tregarth, The Gounce, Perranporth, Cornwall, England TR6 0JW · info@imparareonline.co.uk