Gender German grammar

german has 3 genders of late proto-indo-european—the masculine, feminine, , neuter. german nouns of 1 of these genders. nouns denoting person, such die frau ( woman ) or der mann ( man ), agree natural gender of described. however, since diminutive forms ending in -chen or -lein grammatically neuter, there exist several notable counterexamples such das mädchen ( girl ) , das fräulein ( miss ). these not illogical, whereas das weib (old, regional or anthropological: woman; cognate of english wife ) exception. furthermore, in german, gender of nouns without natural gender not predictable. example, 3 common pieces of cutlery have different genders: das messer ( knife ) neuter, die gabel ( fork ) feminine, , der löffel ( spoon ) masculine.

students of german advised learn german nouns accompanying definite article, definite article of german noun corresponds gender of noun. however, meaning or form, ending, of noun can used recognize 80% of noun genders. instance, nouns ending in suffixes -heit, -keit, -ung, -tät, or -schaft feminine. nouns ending in -ich, -ig, or -ing masculine. noted above, nouns ending in -chen or -lein neuter. many nouns starting ge- , ending in -e, many nouns ending in -nis, -tum, or -sal, neuter. noun ending in –e feminine; masculine when denotes people or few animals: die katze ( cat ), die blume ( flower ), , die liebe ( love ) feminine, while der bote ( messenger ), der junge ( boy ) , der knabe ( knave ) masculine. few nouns ending in -e neuter, das ende ( end ). similarly, noun ending in –er masculine (der teller, der stecker, der computer); however, das messer ( knife ) , das wasser ( water ) neuter, whereas die mutter ( mother ) , die butter ( butter ) feminine in high german.