CARROTTA
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🚻 Compendium
Grammar
DE
Deutsch — Noun gender rules
Many German nouns reveal their gender through their ending. Learn a handful of endings and you can predict der, die or das for a large part of your vocabulary.
1
How it works
✓ Rule
Nouns ending in -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft and -tion are feminine (die Zeitung, die Freiheit). Nouns ending in -chen, -lein and -um are neuter (das Mädchen, das Museum). Nouns ending in -er or -ling and most agent nouns are masculine (der Lehrer, der Lehrling).
2
Examples
| Ending | Article | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ung | die | die Zeitung |
| -keit | die | die Möglichkeit |
| -schaft | die | die Freundschaft |
| -tion | die | die Nation |
| -chen | das | das Mädchen |
| -um | das | das Museum |
| -er | der | der Lehrer |
| -ling | der | der Lehrling |
3
Good to know
⚠ Note
Diminutives win over natural gender: das Mädchen ('girl') is neuter because of -chen, not feminine. Treat the endings as reliable guides, not laws — der Reichtum is masculine despite -um, so store real exceptions together with their article.