Day 4/30: German grammatical gender and noun suffixes.

If there’s one thing that gives German learners much more pain and suffering than it really should, it’s definitely noun gender – I know from experience. In most of the cases, there’s no correlation between natural and grammatical gender. When you come to think of it, there’s absolutely no reason why a carrot should be feminine or a key masculine; grammatical gender is arbitrary and that’s why many learners consider it hard to learn. Rote memorization seems to be the solution, but there are some nice tricks you can use – at least for some groups of words – to learn more and faster.

 

What are suffixes and how can they help you learn noun gender?

In the most basic terms, a suffix is a particular ending added to the stem of a word. You have certainly noticed that many German words end in the same few letters; particularly the suffix –er seems incredibly common! Another thing you might have noticed is that nouns ending with the same letters tend to have the same gender.

That’s why familiarizing yourself with a list of common noun suffixes can help you remember their gender! Just be careful – there are plenty of exceptions out there, especially when the most common suffixes are concerned. Still, even considering the exceptions, becoming friends with the suffixes can be tremendously helpful.

MASCULINE SUFFIXES (DER):

-er: Arbeiter, Krieger

Important exceptions: die Butter, das Fieber, die Schwester, die Tochter, die Mutter, das Silber, das Wasser, das Futter, die Feder, das Wetter, das Gewitter, die Kiefer, das Messer, das Opfer, das Zimmer

–ner: Falkner, Gärnter, Rentner

-ler: Sportler, Wissenschaftler

-ich: Rettich, Teppich

-ig: König

-ling: Günstling, Frühling

-ast: Palast

-or: Professor

Important exceptions: das Labor

-tor: Senator

-ismus: Tourismus, Journalismus

-us: Zyklus

-and: Doktorand

-ant: Komödiant

-än: Kapitän

-är: Funktionär

-at: Demokrat

-et: Athlet

-eur: Friseur

-iker: Physiker

-ist: Komponist, Pazifist, Pianist

-oge: Biologe

-nom: Astronom

FEMININE SUFFIXES (DIE):

-in: Lehrerin, Studentin

Important exceptions: das Benzin, der Urin, das Aspirin

-ung: Bedeutung

-t: Fahrt

-keit: Sauberkeit, Eitelkeit

-schaft: Mannschaft, Weltmeisterschaft

-sion: Explosion

-tion: Revolution

-heit: Gesundheit, Kindheit

-ie: Biologie, Drogerie

Important exceptions: das Genie

-ei: Bäckerei, Partei

Important exceptions: der Papagei

-a: Villa

Important exceptions: das Sofa

-ade: Limonade, Promenade, Parade

Important exceptions: der Nomade

-age: Demontage, Blamage

-anz: Eleganz, Distanz

Important exceptions: der Tanz

-enz: Residenz

-phie: Geographie, Biographie

-ik: Musik, Grammatik

Important exceptions: der Atlantik, der Pazifik

-ine: Violine, Apfelsine

-itis: Hepatitis

-ose: Neurose

-sal: Schicksal, Rinnsal

-sis: Skepsis

-tät: Universität

-üre: Maniküre

-ur: Natur, Konjunktur

Important exceptions: das Abitur

NEUTER SUFFIXES (DAS):

-chen: Mädchen, Kaninchen

-lein: Fräulein, Büchlein

-sel: Rätsel

-erl: Mäderl

-li: Müesli

-tel: Viertel

-eau: Niveau

-icht: Dickicht

-ett: Etikett

-ma: Dogma

Important exceptions: die Firma

-il: Ventil

-ing: Hearing, Jogging

-um: Datum, Königtum, Christentum

Important exceptions: der Irrtum, der Reichtum, der Traum

-ium: Studium

-it: Dynamit

Important exceptions: der Profit

-o: Auto, Abo, Kino, Kilo, Lotto, Radio

Important exceptions: der Zoo, der Euro, die Avocado