Basic German Grammar Topics
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German-Gender of Nouns4 Topics
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German-Nominative4 Topics
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German-Numbers4 Topics
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German-Adjectives4 Topics
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German-Personal Pronouns & the Verb sein4 Topics
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German-Regular Verbs in the Present Tense4 Topics
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German-Plural Formation4 Topics
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German-Haben and the Accusative Case4 Topics
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German-Word Order4 Topics
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German-Definite Articles4 Topics
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German-Indefinite Articles4 Topics
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German-Negation5 Topics
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German-Modal Verbs4 Topics
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German-Separable Prefix Verbs4 Topics
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German-Coordinating Conjunctions4 Topics
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German-Konjunktiv I4 Topics
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German-Possessive Pronouns4 Topics
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German Question Words4 Topics
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German-Present Perfect of Regular Verbs4 Topics
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German-Present Perfect of Irregular Verbs4 Topics
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German-Present Perfect of Mixed Verbs4 Topics
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German-Dative Case5 Topics
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German-Two Way Prepositions4 Topics
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German-Dative Prepositions4 Topics
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German-Conditionals4 Topics
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German-Future Tense4 Topics
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German-Dative Verbs4 Topics
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German-Simple Past Tense4 Topics
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German-Imperative4 Topics
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German-Comparative4 Topics
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German-Temporal Prepositions4 Topics
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German-Present Perfect Separable Prefix Verbs4 Topics
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German-Irregular Verbs4 Topics
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German-Present Perfect Inseparable Prefix Verbs4 Topics
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The German gender of nouns is a feature that is not found in English. Nouns are either masculine, neuter, or feminine, and there are some basic rules for determining their gender. While you are at it, check out this blog article.
Masculine Nouns
Masculine nouns include those that refer to male individuals, nationalities, professions, directions (e.g. der Westen), times of day (e.g. evening), days, months, and seasons. In addition, most (singular) nouns that end with –en, –el, -er, and –ling, nouns ending with –är, -ar, -or, -ich, –ant, -ent, -eur, –ismus, -ist, and -ier are masculine, Furthermore, brand names of cars are masculine (e.g. der Porsche, der Volkswagen).
Examples: der Lehrling – the apprentice
der Rasen – the lawn
Feminine Nouns
Female individuals, professions and nationalities, nouns ending with an unstressed -e or in –heit, -kei, -ung, -tät, -ion, -age, -ur, -schaft, -ei, -ie, -anz, -enz, and -ik are feminine. Numbers, brands of motorcycles, and ships are also feminine (e.g. die Zwei, die Zehn, die Honda, die Titanic).
Examples: die Landschaft – the landscape
die Universität – the university
Neuter Nouns
Nouns referring to young humans and animals, using diminutive suffixes -sel, -lein and -chen (e.g. das Baby, das Mädchen), letters (e.g. das A, das Z), infinitival nouns/gerunds (e.g. das Essen, das Schwimmen), nominalizations of adjectives (e.g. das Gute, das Beste) and the majority of metals. Nouns ending with -um, -tum, and -ment, but also names of most cities, countries, and continents are neuter.
Examples: das Wachstum – the growth
das Universum – the universe
Exceptions
Some words, especially borrowed or “loan” words (i.e. words taken from other languages), are a little more difficult to predict in terms of gender. Generally speaking, these words’ genders are often determined by their German equivalents/counterparts or their endings:
das Training — follows gerund rule, i.e. always neuter
das Apartment — ‘-ment’ suffix is always neuter