German Grammar Lectures Lecture 1 The Gender of

German Grammar Lectures Lecture 1: The Gender of German Nouns Designed by Paul Joyce University of Portsmouth E-Mail: Paul. Joyce@port. ac. uk

1. 1 German noun declension • There is no noun declension as such in German. Exceptions: • -(e)s endings on masculine and neuter nouns in the genitive case • -(e)n endings on nouns in the dative plural • Endings on weak masculine nouns

1. 2 German Articles • Instead German cases are shown by means of the articles i. e. words such as “a”or “the” which are invariable in English. • The German definite article is called “der” and equates to English “the”. • The German indefinite article is called “ein” and equates to English “a”.

1. 3 The Definite Article

1. 4 The Indefinite Article

1. 5 Know your genders! • For this reason you must learn German nouns together with their gender as shown by the relevant definite article! • As the previous tables indicate, German nouns have one of three genders: masculine, feminine or neuter. • There are no gender differences in the plural in German.

1. 6 Quick Quiz (1) • Because things are always referred to as “it” in English, English students of German tend to guess the gender of an unfamiliar word as neuter - “das”. • But are they right to do so? • Which of the three genders actually occurs most often in German?

1. 7 Quiz Answer • Approximately 45% of German nouns are masculine. • 35% of German nouns are feminine. • Only 20% of German nouns are neuter!

1. 8 Typisch deutsch! • Whereas in English gender virtually always corresponds logically to the sex of the noun, this is not the case in German. • Most German nouns denoting male people and animals are in fact masculine, and those denoting females are mostly feminine. • BUT there are exceptions - das Mädchen, das Fräulein, das Weib!

1. 9 Typisch deutsch (2)! • And unlike English nouns, names of inanimate objects may be masculine, feminine or neuter in German. • This state of affairs prompted the 19 th Century American writer Mark Twain to make the following comment about the German language:

1. 10 Mark Twain on German genders • “In German, a young lady has no sex, while a turnip has. ” • “Think what overwrought reverence that shows for the turnip, and what callous disrespect for the girl. ” (Mark Twain, 1880)

1. 11 Basic rules of German gender • Whilst you should always learn the gender of any new noun that you encounter, you should also remember that: • Certain nouns have a particular gender because of their meaning. • Other nouns have a particular gender because of their form.

1. 12 Quiz (2) – Gender by meaning • The meaning of the following nouns tells you their gender. Which is it? And why?

1. 13 Quiz (2) - Masculine • • • der der der Arzt; der Löwe - male person / animal Süden - point of the compass Herbst - season of the year Mittwoch - day of the week Januar - month of the year Kaffee - plant-based drink

1. 14 Quiz (2) - Others • • • die Ärztin - female person die Löwin - female animal das Baby - young person das Pony - young animal das Ypsilon - letter of the alphabet (and musical notes)

1. 15 Quiz (3) - Meaning • Same again - only tougher!

1. 16 Quiz (3) - Masculine • • der der Euro - currency (BUT: das Pfund!) Balkan - mountain (range) Hagel - weather phenomena Abend - part of day (BUT: die Nacht) Wein - alcoholic drink (BUT: das Bier!) Mercedes - make of car Amazonas - non-German river

1. 17 Quiz (3) - Feminine • die Elbe - German river (many exceptions: der Rhein; der Main; der Inn; der Lech) • die Vier - name of numeral • die Boeing - aeroplane (BUT: der Airbus) • (die Honda - name of motorbike) • (die “Bismarck” - name of ship)

1. 18 Quiz (3) - Neuter • Köln, Spanien, Europa - city, country, continent • das Atom - physical unit (i. e. das Pfund) • das Gold - metals, chemical elements (BUT: die Bronze; der Stahl, Schwefel) • Deutsch - languages (like most non-nouns used as nouns - das Ach, das Du, Doping)

1. 19 Exceptions: gender by meaning • There are many exceptions to these rules. Just think of countries! • masculine - der Irak, der Iran, der Libanon, der Sudan, der Jemen, der Kongo • feminine - die Schweiz; die Türkei, die Tschechische Republik, die Antarktis • plural - die USA; die Niederlande

1. 20 Quiz (4) – Gender by endings • Find the gender again - now using endings!

1. 21 Quiz (4) – Masculine nouns • • -ant - der Konsonant; der Diamant -ich - der Teppich; der Wüterich -ismus - der Marxismus, der Realismus -(m)us - der Rhythmus; der Kasus -or - der Motor (BUT: das Labor) -pf, -ps - der Kopf; der Schlips -tz - der Blitz; der Sitz

1. 22 Quiz (4) – Feminine endings • • -a - die Villa; die Aura (BUT NOT -ma) -ei - die Datei; die Bücherei -heit - die Einheit; die Gesundheit -ik - die Panik (BUT: der Atlantik, Pazifik) -schaft - die Botschaft, die Gesellschaft -sion - die Illusion; die Explosion -tät - die Qualität; die Universität

1. 23 Quiz (4) – Neuter endings • • -chen - das Bisschen, das Mädchen -ell (stressed) - das Duell; das Rondell -ett (stressed) - das Kabinett; das Ballett -it - das Dynamit (BUT: der Profit, Granit) -ma - das Schema (BUT: die Firma) -tel - das Viertel, das Drittel -um - das Album (BUT: der Konsum)

1. 24 Quiz (5) - Endings • Find the gender again - now using endings!

1. 25 Quiz (5) – Masculine nouns • • -ast - der Kontrast -ig - der Honig; der Pfennig -ling - der Liebling Note also that most nouns formed from a strong verb without a suffix are masculine: der Fall, der Biss, der Gang, der Schluss • (BUT: das Band, Schloss, Verbot…)

1. 26 Quiz (5) – Feminine nouns • • -anz, -enz - die Eleganz, die Existenz -ie - die Biologie; die Hysterie -in - die Freundin (= female being) -keit - die Heiterkeit -tion - die Revolution; die Station -ur - die Natur (BUT: das Abitur, Futur) -ung - die Meinung -sis - die Basis

1. 27 Quiz (5) – Neuter nouns • • • -il - das Ventil -in - das Benzin, Protein (= chemical terms) -lein - das Büchlein; das Fräulein -ment - das Element (BUT: der Zement) -tel - das Viertel, das Drittel -tum - das Eigentum (BUT: der Irrtum, der Reichtum)

1. 28 Tendencies: “-nis” endings • We can only speak of tendencies with the following types of endings: • -nis - 70% neuter endings: das Ereignis, das Erlebnis, das Bedürfnis, das Ärgernis, das Geständnis, das Geheimnis, das Zeugnis • -nis - 30% feminine endings: die Erlaubnis, die Erkenntnis, die Kenntnis, die Finsternis, die Besorgnis, die Wildnis

1. 29 Tendencies: “-er” endings • Nouns in -er denoting male persons are masculine: der Leiter (leader); der Bäcker • Many other -er nouns are also masculine especially instruments or tools: der Computer, der Wecker, der Stecker • BUT many common -er nouns are feminine: die Butter, die Mauer, die Ader, die Feder, die Nummer, die Mutter, die Schwester

1. 30 Tendencies: “-er” endings (2) • And some 15% of -er nouns are neuter: das Fenster; das Fieber; das Wasser; das Alter • Careful! Some -er nouns have two meanings depending on their gender: • der Leiter (= leader); die Leiter (= ladder) • der Laster (= lorry); das Laster (= vice) • die Steuer (tax); das Steuer (steering wheel)

1. 31 Tendencies: “-el” endings • The majority of -el nouns are masculine: der Onkel; der Enkel; der Flügel • About 25% of them however are feminine: die Wurzel; die Regel; die Insel; die Schüssel; die Kartoffel; die Gabel; die Nadel • The rest of them are neuter: das Segel; das Mittel; das Bündel; das Mädel

1. 32 Tendencies: “-en” endings • About 60% of -en nouns are masculine: der Schatten; der Regen; der Magen • None of them are feminine! • Verbal infinitives ending in -en are neuter das Kommen, das Essen, das Streben) • Other -en nouns are also neuter: das Leben; das Zeichen; das Becken

1. 33 Tendencies: “-e” endings • About 90% of -e nouns are feminine: die Kirche; die Dame; die Straße etc. • There a number of exceptions: 1) Two masculines - der Käse, der Charme 2) Weak masculine nouns 3) Neuter nouns beginning with “Ge-” 4) Other neuters: das Auge, das Ende, das Interesse, das Image

1. 34 Tendencies: “-al” endings • Nouns ending in a stressed -al tend to be neuter: das Ritual; das Lineal; das Journal, das Tribunal, das Arsenal etc. • There a number of exceptions: • Masculine - der Kanal, der General, der Skandal • Feminine - die Moral

1. 35 Tendencies: “-(i)cht” endings • Nouns ending in -cht tend to be feminine: die Nacht; die Macht; die Sicht, die Pflicht • Exceptions: das Recht; das Licht • BUT polysyllabic nouns ending in -icht tend to be neuter - das Dickicht, Röhricht • Exceptions - der Bericht; die Nachricht

1. 36 Tendencies: “Ge-” nouns • 90% of nouns starting with “Ge-” are neuter: das Gebäude; das Gesetz; das Gerät; das Gesicht, das Gespräch etc. • Exceptions include 11 masculine nouns: • They are: der Gebrauch, der Gedanke, der Gefallen, der Gehalt, der Gehorsam, der Genuss, der Geruch, der Gesang, der Geschmack, der Gestank, der Gewinn

1. 37 Tendencies: Ge- nouns (2) • Weak masculine nouns: der Genosse / die Genossin; der Geselle / die Gesellin • 11 feminine Ge- nouns: die Gebärde, die Gebühr, die Geburt, die Geduld, die Gefahr, die Gemeinde, die Geschichte, die Geschwulst, die Gestalt, die Gewähr, die Gewalt • der Gefallen (favour); das Gefallen (pleasure) • der Gehalt (content); das Gehalt (salary)

1. 38 Tendencies: Imported nouns • The tendency to say that imported nouns are automatically neuter should be resisted! • This is true for some endings - i. e. -o / -eau: das Auto, das Büro, das Kino, das Konto • Other imported noun endings are neuter if they refer to things (-är: das Militär, Salär; ent: das Talent) but masculine when they refer to people: der Aktionär; der Student

1. 39 Gender of imported nouns (2) • • Other imported endings are feminine: -ade: die Marmelade, die Ballade -age: die Garage, die Etage, die Courage -elle: die Frikadelle, die Bagatelle -ette: die Etikette, die Toilette -itis: die Bronchitis, die Arthritis -ose: die Neurose, die Tuberkulose -üre: die Broschüre

1. 40 Recent imported nouns • Large scale borrowing of words from English is a characteristic feature of modern German. • Many English words adopt the gender of the nearest German equivalent: • der Airport (= der Flughafen) • das Bike (= das Fahrrad) • der Shop (= der Laden)

1. 41 Recent imported nouns (2) • BUT it is the ending of some English words that determines the gender in German: • die City, die Party, die Publicity (because -ie is a feminine ending) • der Computer, der Dimmer, der Container (as -er for instruments is masculine) • Monosyllabic nouns from verbs are often masculine: der Hit, der Look, der Talk

1. 42 Gender of compound nouns • Compound nouns usually have the gender of their final component: • der Plan hence der Fahrplan • das Bad hence das Hallenbad • Exceptions: das Wort BUT die Antwort • der Mut BUT die Armut, die Schwermut • die Scheu BUT der Abscheu

1. 43 Gender of abbreviations • The gender of abbreviations is determined by the basic word: • die CDU: die Christlich-Demokratische Union • der HSV: der Hamburger Sportverein • Shortened words have the gender of the full form: die Uni (die Universität); der Krimi (der Kriminalroman); der Akku (der Akkumulator) • BUT das Foto despite die Fotografie

1. 44 Quiz: Conclusion • See how important it is to know gender rules and exceptions! Using the articles below state how many items there and their case: Question 1: 2: 3: 4: die Lehrer; der Lehrerin der Mauer; der Maurer die Katze; die Schätze die Mädchen; den Männchen

1. 45 Quiz: Answers • die Lehrer (masc. plural - nom. / acc. ); der Lehrerin (fem. singular - genitive / dative) • der Mauer (fem. singular - genitive / dative; der Maurer (masc. plural. - genitive) • die Katze (fem. singular - nom. / acc. ); die Schätze (masc. plural - nom. / acc. ) • die Mädchen (neuter plural - nom. / acc. ); den Männchen (neuter plural - dative)