What is meant by the gender of a noun in German?
Every noun in German has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter.
Each gender has its own definite article (der, die, das), which corresponds to the English “the”, and an indefinite article (ein, eine, ein), similar to “a” or “an” in English.
Gender is a grammatical feature, not related to real gender.
Translate to German:
the woman
die Frau
the = die
German nouns have gender, and Frau is feminine, so it uses the definite article die for “the”.
Translate to German:
the man
der Mann
the = der
German nouns have gender, and Mann is masculine, so it uses the definite article der for “the”.
Translate to German:
the girl
das Mädchen
the = das
Mädchen is a neuter noun in German, so it uses the definite article das even though it refers to a female.
Note that the grammatical gender of a noun doesn’t always match the natural gender of the person or thing it describes.
Translate to German:
a woman
eine Frau
woman = Frau
In German, the indefinite article eine is used for feminine nouns, similar to “a” or “an” in English.
Translate to German:
a man
ein Mann
man = Mann
In German, the indefinite article ein is used for masculine (m.) and neuter (n.) nouns, similar to “a” or “an” in English.
Translate to German:
a boy
ein Junge
boy = Junge
Remember that all German nouns are always capitalized, unlike in English, where capitalization is only for proper nouns.
Translate to German:
a child
ein Kind
child = Kind
ein Kind is a neuter singular noun meaning “a child”. It can refer to any child, regardless of gender.
Translate to German:
the boys
die Jungen
die is the definite article for all plural nouns, no matter whether the singular form is der, die, or das.
Translate to German:
boys
Jungen
In German, when we talk about more than one person or things in a general way, we don’t use an article, just like in English.
Translate to German:
the children
die Kinder
children = Kinder
Neuter nouns often form the plural by adding -e or -er: die Kinder.
Translate to German:
some children
einige Kinder
some = einige
einige Kinder means “some children”. It refers to a general group, unlike die Kinder (“the children”), which refers to a specific group known or meant by the speaker.
Translate to German:
some men
einige Männer
men = Männer
Masculine nouns usually form the plural by adding -e or -er, sometimes with a vowel change (Umlaut): einige Männer.
Translate to German:
some women
einige Frauen
women = Frauen
Feminine nouns usually form the plural by adding -n or -en: einige Frauen.
Translate to German:
a boy and a girl
ein Junge und ein Mädchen
and = und
The word und means “and” in English. It’s used to connect words or phrases, just like in English.
Translate to German:
men and women
Männer und Frauen
Translate to German:
the student
(male)
der Schüler
student = Schüler (m.), Schülerin (f.)
Note that most nouns ending in -er are masculine.
Translate to German:
the student
(female)
die Schülerin
student = Schüler (m.), Schülerin (f.)
Most nouns make the feminine form by adding -in.
Translate to German:
a teacher
(male)
ein Lehrer
teacher = Lehrer (m), Lehrerin (f.)
Translate to German:
a teacher
(female)
eine Lehrerin
teacher = Lehrer (m.), Lehrerin (f.)
Translate to German:
a professor
(male)
ein Professor
professor = Professor (m.), Professorin (f.)
Most nouns ending in -or are masculine
Translate to German:
a professor
(female)
eine Professorin
professor = Professor (m.), Professorin (f.)
Translate to German:
the house
das Haus
The plural of Haus is Häuser. Typically, vowels change to umlauts in the plural.
Translate to German:
money
das Geld
Geld means “money” in English and is uncountable in German, just like in English.
Luft (“air”) is also uncountable — you can’t say two airs.
