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Hallo Sara! Here are some tips that I have learned. I'm not sure if these are everything that determines which article to use, but it has helped me guess.
Der- maculine / male people - seasons -days / months - ling @ the end of a word - ant @ the end of a word - us @ the end of a word - ich/ig @ the end of a word
Die - feminine / female people - in @ the end of a word - German rivers - ei @ the end of a word - schaft @ the end of a word - heit/keit @ the end of a word - ung @ the end of a word - ion @ the end of a word - ik @ the end of a word - ie @ the end of a word - enz/anz @ the end of a word -ur @ the end of a word
Das - neutral - lein/chen @ the end of a word - um @ the end of a word - ment @ the end of a word - ma @ the end of a word - ing @ the end of a word - Ge @ the beginning of a word
HOPE THIS HELPS! :)
1108
It's simple, you try not to forget.
Joke aside, there is no foolproof way for it. I have been learning German for 12 years now, and sometimes still struggle to find the correct article, when I speak it. There are some rules for special nouns, but no general one.
This might help you, though:
https://www.fluentu.com/blog/german/die-der-das/
Viel Glück!
Hello! First, I color code my nouns: I can hesitate in remembering if any random abstract notion is supposed to be feminine, neuter or masculine, but chances are I remember if the word is blue, green or red.
Second, this https://courses.smartergerman.com/courses/learn-german-articles-course/lectures/3358466 saved me a lot of headaches :)
Hi Sara,
There are two answers:
- You'll have to learn the article with the noun.
- There are some basic rules, but there are also many exceptions, so don't rely on these rules fully. Also, make sure you don't mistake the last few letters of a word for an ending.*
(See end of comment)
The are rules are roughly like this:
Feminine:
DIE:
Female people.
*exceptions include das Mädchen (the girl).
Most nouns ending the following endings are feminine:
-heit
-keit
-ung
-schaft
-e
-ei
-ie
-in
Foreign words that are used in German with the following endings are feminine:
-ade
-age
-anz
-enz
-ik
-ion
-tät
-ur
Cardinal numbers have a feminine article.
Masculine:
DER
Male people.
Most nouns ending in the following are Masculine:
-ant
-ling
-ner
-ich
-ig
-en*
*
except for infinitives.
-ismus
Most instruments or things that do stuff that end in "-er" or "-or".
(Most?) Nouns derived from verbs ending in "-er" are masculine.
Car brands are masculine.
Months and seasons, days, points on the compass, and most weather elements are masculine.
(Here is a link to a list of all the months, seasons, points in the compass, and days of the week.)
Most names of alcoholic drinks are masculine.
Most non-German rivers.
Neuter:
DAS
Most nouns that end in the following are Neuter:
-chen
-lein
-um
-ment
-ma
-nis
Most collective nouns starting with "Ge-" are neuter.
Infinitives used as a noun are neuter.
Most of the 112 chemical elements are neuter.
Colors are neuter.
*
About proper endings and coincidental "endings":
Here is an example, there is a "rule" that words ending in -in is feminine. What about das Bein (the leg)? Well, it's not an ending! It's just the last letters of the word.
Using the same rule as example, let's take a look at die Ärztin (the [female] doctor).
The infinitive form, or root-form, of the word is der Arzt (the [male] doctor), so the -in at the end of Ärztin is a real ending (-in, here, indicates that it's a female doctor, without it, it's a male doctor).
I hope this makes sense! Have fun with you courses!
(I'm open for corrections.)