German noun endings that tell you the gender

Many German noun endings tell you the gender at a glance. Nouns ending in -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft and -tät are always feminine (die), nouns ending in -chen and -lein are always neuter (das), and nouns ending in -ling and -ismus are always masculine (der). Other endings, such as -e, -nis and -er, are only tendencies. Learn the reliable endings first and you can predict the article of a large share of German nouns before you look them up.

#Why do endings give the gender away?

Many German endings are suffixes: small pieces that turn one word into another. The suffix -ung turns the verb wohnen into die Wohnung, -heit turns the adjective frei into die Freiheit, and -chen turns das Brot into das Brötchen. Each suffix carries its own gender and passes it on to every noun it builds. The meaning of the noun plays no part. That is why die Wohnung, die Zeitung and die Rechnung are all feminine, although a flat, a newspaper and a bill have nothing in common.

This is the most useful part of the der, die, das rules: an ending you can see beats a gender you have to remember.

#Which endings are always feminine?

Feminine has the most reliable endings of the three genders, and you meet them everywhere: in the news, at work and in every letter from an office.

The exceptions are few and easy to spot. Das Stadion ends in -ion, but -ion is not a suffix there. Das Abitur and der Flur end in -ur, and das Knie ends in -ie. Das Ei is not built with the suffix -ei, it simply is a short word.

#Which endings are masculine?

Masculine endings are fewer, and several of them describe people.

The words "for people" matter. Die Frist (the deadline, a word you will see in every official letter) ends in -ist, but it is not a person, so the rule does not apply. Das Labor is the best known exception to -or.

#Which endings make a noun neuter?

Neuter has one perfect rule and a few good ones.

• -chen and -lein are always neuter: das Brötchen, das Mädchen, das Kätzchen, das Büchlein. These endings make small things, and they win over everything, even over the gender of the person.
• -ment is almost always neuter: das Dokument, das Medikament, das Instrument. The one you will meet daily is the exception: der Moment.
• -um is almost always neuter: das Museum, das Zentrum, das Studium, das Visum. Exceptions include der Konsum and der Irrtum.
• -o is usually neuter: das Auto, das Büro, das Kino, das Konto. Note der Euro.
• Verbs used as nouns are always neuter: das Essen, das Parken, das Rauchen.

#Which endings are only a tendency?

Some endings point one way most of the time, but not often enough to call them rules. Use them to guess, not to be sure.

• -e is mostly feminine: die Lampe, die Straße, die Woche. But masculine nouns for people and animals end in -e too (der Junge, der Kollege, der Löwe), and so do der Name and der Käse. Das Auge and das Ende are neuter.
• -nis is mostly neuter: das Ergebnis, das Zeugnis, das Verständnis. But die Erlaubnis and die Kenntnis are feminine, and you need both for work and for the authorities.
• Ge- at the start, often with -e at the end, is often neuter: das Gebäude, das Gemüse, das Gebirge. But die Geschichte and der Gedanke break the pattern.
• -el and -en lean slightly towards der (der Schlüssel, der Garten), but die Gabel, die Regel and das Zeichen show how weak this is.

#How should you learn the endings?

Do not try to learn the whole list in one go. Work in layers:

1. Start with the safe six: -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft for die, -chen and -lein for das. They never fail.
2. Add the Latin and Greek endings next: -ion, -tät, -ik, -ur. Long words from work and the news are full of them.
3. Look at the last word of a compound first. In die Wohnungstür the gender comes from die Tür, not from -ung in the middle. Compound nouns and their articles explains this rule, which never fails.
4. Learn exceptions in a sentence. Der Moment sticks better as Einen Moment, bitte! than as a line in a table.
5. Check your guess. When you meet a new noun, guess the article from the ending before you look it up. Every correct guess makes the pattern stronger.

#How does Linota help with noun endings?

In Linota you can tap any noun in a text and see its article and plural in the sentence you found it in. Save it, and the study note keeps the article with the word, so you can check your guess from the ending against the real answer. The quick quiz then asks for der, die or das from your own saved words, and Endungs-Poker lets you play the right article and ending as cards.

#The short version

• -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -tät and female -in: always die.
• -chen and -lein: always das; -ment, -um and -o: usually das.
• -ling and -ismus: always der; -ist, -ant and -ent for people: der.
• -e, -nis and Ge- are tendencies, good for guessing, not for certainty.
• In a compound noun, the last word decides.

The endings take you a long way, but not all the way. For the habits that cover the rest, read how to remember German articles, or see all posts on der, die, das.