How to Memorize the Genders of German Nouns

About German Noun Genders

When you start to learn German, you quickly run into something weird for native English-speakers: German nouns have genders.

Genders? Huh? What does that actually mean?

Well, each singular German noun is either a masculine noun, a feminine noun or a neuter noun.

All clear now, right? No? I can't say that I am surprised. That was not a very comprehensive explanation.

Maybe this will help:

Lots of German nouns are "masculine." That just means that we say "der" before the noun. For example, "Wagen" means car. If you want to say "THE car," you say "DER Wagen."

Why? Don't ask. It was just born that way. It's a masculine noun and you have to know that it is a "der" noun if you want to speak German well.

Just embrace this as one of the joys of German grammar and please politely ignore the people who tell you not to worry about grammar. These people may be nice, but they are giving you bad advice.

I am not saying that you should be obsessed with grammar or that you should be hysterical about little mistakes you will inevitably make. Of course not. That would lead to frustration and inhibitions. You should try to get it right, though.

Good grammar is obviously better than bad grammar.

Anyway... Some nouns are feminine. "Ente," for example, is a feminine noun that means "duck" (the quacking kind) in German. When you want to say "the duck," you say "DIE Ente." Feminine nouns are "die" nouns. You want to know why? Well, it is just feminine. It just is, Baby.

Other nouns are neuter. They are "DAS" nouns. The German word for "baby" is a "das" noun. To say, "The baby is here," you say "DAS Baby ist hier."

What if it's a female baby? It's still "das Baby." What if it's a male baby? Still "das Baby."

Don't fight this. Accept it. Things will go better if you do.

So, every time you learn a noun, you need to learn its gender - unless you are going to completely avoid the use of the word "the," of course. But I don't see that happening.

For example:

• You can't just learn that "Hund" means "dog." You have to learn that "der Hund" means "the dog."
• It's not enough to know that "Katze" means "cat." You have to know that "die Katze" means "the cat."
• If you want to say, "the child," you have to say "das Kind." You can't say "der Kind" or "die Kind." That would be confusing to a German and would sound odd.

Got it now? Sure you do.

How to Remember Genders of German Nouns

But how will you remember all those genders?

The truth is, it won't be that difficult. Most of the time, you won't have any trouble recalling which nouns are "der nouns," which ones are "die nouns" and which ones are "das nouns."

But, if you do have trouble, here's what I tell my students to do. Maybe it will help you, too:

• Associate masculine nouns with a male friend.
• Associate feminine nouns with a female friend.
• Associate neuter nouns with your house.

How does that work? It''s easy.

Let's say that you cannot seem to remember that "Schuh" is is a masculine noun. It just won't stick. (That's the German word for "shoe," of course.)

And let's say your male friend is named Steve.

You have to find a way to put "Schuh" and "Steve" together in your mind. Remember you will associate all male nouns with Steve. That's the key to this simple, effective technique.

Maybe you will memorize the sentence, "I beat Steve with my shoe."

Or maybe you will make up a poem: "Roses are red, violets are blue, I am a person, but Steve is a shoe."

Or you could make a sketch with Steve's face as the sole of the shoe.

Just find a way to associate Steve with "Schuh" and you will always remember that "Schuh" is a masculine noun.

Why? Well, every "Steve noun" is a masculine noun, right?

Tip: The more memorable your association is, the more likely you are to, um, remember it. Do you think "Steve has a shoe" is memorable? I don't. What about Steve passionately kissing a shoe? Eeeewies! Yeah, Baby, that's better.

Use the same process with the feminine nouns and neuter nouns whose genders just don't seem to want to stay in your head.

Let's Practice

• So, how would you use this technique to help you remember "die Musik", for example?
• What about "das Licht" (the light)?
  
• How about "der Fingernagel" (the fingernail)?
  

This takes a little practice, but it can be a very helpful technique.

Note: At first, you may find that this technique works better for nouns like "hammer," "door" and "pizza" than for nouns like "influence," "permission" and "point of view." Don't worry, with practice, you'll be able come up with associations for any noun you can think of.

[More memory techniques here.]

While it is generally not possible to know the gender of German nouns in advance, there are some tips and hints that can sometimes be quite helpful.