Aim of this section is to learn which noun has got which gender.

Which noun has which gender?

I want to give some examples to show that there is no logic behind the gender in German. Let's have a look at the three words: man, woman and girl.

• der Mann (man)-> obviously male
• die Frau (woman)-> obviously female
• das Mädchen (girl)-> obviously female, but the grammatical gender in German is neuter!

That means the grammatical gender in German has often nothing to do with the biological gender. A second example is the word ocean in German. We've got three different words to describe it:

• der Ozean -> male
• die See -> female
• das Meer-> neuter

That's why we always learn the article together with the noun. See the article as part of the noun and not as an extra word.

Nevertheless, I'd like to give you some rules which might help to remember which is the correct gender.

DER - male nouns

• der Montag (Monday)
• der Mai (May)
• der Winter (winter)

• der Arzt (male doctor)
• der Student (male student)
• der Deutsche (male German)

• der ICE (fastest train in Germany)
• der Mercedes (famous German car)
• der VW (famous German car)

• der Mann (man)
• der Junge (boy)
• der Bruder (brother)

• der Bodensee (famous German lake)
• der Mount Everest (famous mountain between Nepal and China)
• der Kilimandscharo (famous mountain in Africa)

• der Honig (honey)
• der Teppich (carpet)
• der Schädling (pest)

• der Wagen (car)
• der Löffel (spoon)
• der Becher (mug)

DIE - female nouns

• die Freundschaft (friendship)
• die Freiheit (freedom)
• die Wohnung (apartment)

• die Musik (music)
• die Waage (scale)
• die Nation (nation)

• die Eins (one)
• die Zwei (two)
• die Drei (three)

• die Frau (woman)
• die Dame (lady)
• die Tochter (daughter)

• die Rose (rose)
• die Orchidee (ordhid)
• die Palme (palm)

• die Polizei (police)
• die Linie (line)
• die Initiative (initiative)

• die Ecke (corner)
• die Grenze (border)
• die Decke (ceiling)

DAS - neuter nouns

• das Fräulein (miss)
• das Mädchen (girl)
• das Kätzchen (kitten)

• das Hilton (Hilton)
• das Gewandhaus (famous German theater)
• das Altwerk (pizza restaurant in Nideggen)

• das Blau (blue)
• das Rot (red)
• das Gelb (yellow)

• das Lesen (reading)
• das Schreiben (writing)
• das Sehen (seeing)

• das Deutschland (Germany)
• das Italien (Italy)
• das Köln (Cologne)

• das Museum (museum)
• das Datum (date)
• das Verhältnis (relationship)

• das Gebäude (building)
• das Gefüge (structure)
• das Gerede (gossip)