In German distinguish three sorts: men's (das Maskulinum), female (das Femininum), average (das Neutrum). When determining noun gender often there are certain difficulties therefore it is worth stocking up with patience and to try to remember some rules.
Instruction
1. One of ways of definition of noun gender in German is definition of a sort on value of a noun. Names belong to a masculine gender: - males of der Brude, der Mann; - male animals of der Bulle, der Hase; - male professions of der Arzt, der Lehrer; - seasons, months, days of the week and parts of days of der Sommer, der Mittwoch, der Morgen, but das Fruhjahr, die Nacht; - parts of the world of der Norden; der Westen; - natural phenomena of der Hauch, der Nebel; - alcoholic and alcoholic drinks der Rum, der Wein; - brands of the cars der Ford, der Volga; - minerals, gemstones, rocks der Opal, der Sand, but die Kreide, die Perle; - some mountains, mountain chains, peaks, volcanoes of der Elbrus, but die Rhon, die Tatra; - many birds of der Schwan, der Falke, but die Gans, die Drossel; - many fishes and crayfish of der Krebs, but die Sardine; - banknotes and coins of der Pfennig, der Euro, but die Kopeke, die Lira.
2. Names belong to a feminine gender: - female persons die Mutter, die Schwester, but das Weib; - female animals of die Bache, die Kuh, but das Huhn, der Panter; - female professions of die Lehrerin; - many ships even if they are called by a man's name, many planes, motorcycles (that die Maschine) die Titanic, die TU-154, but der General san Martin. The names of the ships formed from the name of animals, as a rule, keep the sort; - trees, that on - baum die Erle, die Tanne, but der Baobab, der Ahorn; - colors die Nelke, die Tulpe, but der Kaktus, das Veilchen; - vegetables and fruit die Tomate, die Birne, but der Apfel, der Spargel; - berries (most often those which terminate on - beere) die Brombeere, die Erdbeere; - cigarettes and cigars of die Hawanna, die West; - the German rivers, the rivers of other countries terminating on - a, - au, - e die Spree, die Wolga. An exception make names of the German rivers: der Rhein, der Main, der Neckar, der Lech, der Regen. The majority of names of the rivers of other countries and also seas and oceans belong to a masculine gender: der Ganges, der Atlantik, but die Norsee, die Ostsee; - majority of insects of die Laus, die Spinne, but der Floh, der Kakerlak.
3. Names belong to a neutral gender: - hotels, restaurants, cafe, movie theaters das Metropol, das Astoria; - majority of metals, alloys, chemical elements das Gold, das Zinn, but die Bronze, der Phosphor; - the letters including substantivized, notes, flowers, the languages das V, das Blau, das Deutch; - continents, majority of the countries, islands of das sonnige Italien; - children and cubs of animal das Ferkel, das Lamm, but der Welpe, der Frischling; - units of measure of das Dutzend, das Hundert, but der Grad, der Kilometr.
4. Noun gender can also be determined by its form. Treat a masculine gender: - the nouns terminating on: - er, - ich, - ig, - ling, - s; - the nouns formed from verbs, sometimes with ablauty as in a root, gehen which do not have suffixes-> der Gang, blicken-> der Blick; - foreign words, first of all the names of persons terminating on - al, - and, - ant, - är, - ar, - ast, - at, - ent, - et, - eur, - iker, - ismus, - loge, - or, - ier, - ist, - us.
5. Treat a feminine gender: - the nouns formed from verbs and terminating on - t fahren-> die Fahrt, sehen-> die Sicht, but der Dienst
6. Treat a neutral gender: - the nouns terminating on diminutive suffixes - chen, - lein; - the foreign words terminating on - at, - ett, - il, - in, - ma, - o, - (m) of ent, - um; - all nouns formed from an infinitive I and also other parts of speech, which passed into the category of nouns; - collective nouns and also nouns which designate the processes having often negative coloring and beginning on Ge-;-the majority of nouns with suffixes is nis, - sal, - (s) of el, - tum, - ium.