German Article Rules
Discover patterns for determining the correct article (der, die, das) for German nouns.
These rules are very reliable and have practically no exceptions.
DER
Cardinal points
Male characters
Caution: Most professions also have their feminine forms (e.g. die Polizistin). Some words can also have two forms: der/die Deutsche, der/die Kranke.
-aal
-ag
-aum
Caution: 'der Raum' but 'das Zimmer'
-iker
Compare with '-er' (mostly masculine).
-ling
Caution: Words ending in '-ling' are always masculine, but words ending in '-ing' are usually neutral, like 'das Marketing'.
-pf
DIE
-enz
-heit
-keit
-orm
-tät
-ung
There are many -ung words, we won't list them all. There are only a few exceptions.
DAS
Alphabet
All letters of the alphabet (A, B, C... Eszet). Caution: 'der Buchstabe'
Languages
Caution: die Sprache ('die deutsche Sprache'); der Dialekt ('der bayrische Dialekt').
Deverbal nouns
These are nouns derived from verbs. They are also called Verbalsubstantive or Verbalnomen.
Diminutives (-chen, -lein, ...)
Always when the word is diminished; often (but not always!) with the endings -chen, -lein, -li.
-ett
-fon/-phon
These rules have only a few exceptions.
DER
Weekdays, months, seasons
Caution: see exceptions
Precipitation, wind
Caution: see exceptions
Fish
Alcohol
-all
-an
Caution: Most country names in German do not have an article and are neutral. You say "nach" plus country, like "nach Japan". But some countries have an article, for example "der Sudan". Then you say "in den" plus the country, like "in den Sudan".
-ang
-ner
Compare with the category '-er'.
-or
-tz
-und
DIE
Women
Caution: Most professions also have their feminine forms (e.g. die Polizistin). Some words can also have two forms: der/die Deutsche, der/die Kranke.
Numbers, calculations
Caution: When verbs are turned into nouns, the result is 'das Addieren', 'das Subtrahieren', 'das Multiplizieren', 'das Dividieren'.
-acht
-anz
-ie
-ft/ -schaft
All -schaft nouns are feminine, but not all -ft nouns are.
-e/-ee
There are many -e nouns, many of which are feminine, but there are also some important exceptions.
-ik
DAS
Elements
1. Chemical elements but also fire and water. 2. Caution: 'der -stoff
-em
-euer
Caution: -er nouns are mostly masculine (der Fahrer).
These rules apply in more than 50% of cases.
DER
Minerals
Caution: Compare with the category "Materials and metals"! Das Mineral, das Material, das Metall.
Large animals
Astronomical objects
Caution: Many exceptions
Waste
Devices
Caution: das Gerät
-ant
-ast
-auch
-eg/-ieg
-ent
Caution: there are many -ment exceptions (das), such as 'das Dokument'.
-er
1. Caution: many exceptions. 2. almost all -euer nouns are neutral. 3. There are many -er words, we don't list them all.
-eur
Caution: but not -ur (almost always feminine)
-ich
-ismus
Kn-
-og
-uch
Including -auch nouns (100% masculine, e.g. der Bauch)
-us/-uss/-uß
Including -ismus nouns (100% masculine, e.g. der Tourismus)
-ug
Caution: der Flug but das Zeug/ das Flugzeug.
-en
1. All diminutives with '-chen' are neutral, like 'das Mädchen'. 2. Nouns derived from verbs are always neutral ('das Schrieben'). 3. There are many -en words, we won't list them all.
-el
1. Caution: many exceptions. 2. there are many -el words, we don't list them all.
DIE
Fruit
Caution, exception: das Obst
Wisdom, power, rules
-ur/-ür
Caution: -eur nouns are usually masculine (e.g. der Ingenieur).
-ei
Time
There are many exceptions, e.g. the entire category "Weekdays, months, seasons" (masculine/der).
-icht
-in
All persons and professions ending in -in are feminine. Other -in nouns can be der/die/das.
DAS
Books, documents
Caution: see exceptions
Materials, metals
Raw materials other than stones/minerals ('der Stein').
Many foreign words
There are many foreign words, we won't list them all.
-al
Exceptions: -aal nouns are always masculine.
Ge-
Nouns beginning with Ge- are usually neutral, unless other rules apply. We do not list all Ge nouns.
-ma
-ment
Caution: Nouns with '-ent' are often masculine.
-o
-om
