Linguin LogoLinguinPractice German

Topic: Weather & Seasons

Level: advanced

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Graupel

"the sleet / soft hail"

Practice genders for German nouns for the topic "Weather%20%26%20Seasons" at the advanced level. Find more topics and levelshere.

German Article Rules

Learning German noun genders can be challenging as there are no hard rules for them. So all you can do is memorize each gender one by one.
However German articles some patterns that you can memorize to make your life easier. Here is a list of patterns to help you determine which article (der, die, das) to use with German nouns:

Masculine Nouns (Der)

Meaning-Based Rules

  • All masculine:
    • Days, months, and seasons (e.g., der Montag, der Juli, der Winter)
  • Most masculine:
    • Weather terms (e.g., der Regen, der Schnee)
    • Alcoholic and plant-based drinks (e.g., der Wein)
    • Car and train types (e.g., der BMW)
    • Currencies (e.g., der Euro)
    • Mountains and mountain ranges (e.g., der Himalaya)
    • Non-German rivers (e.g., der Amazonas)
    • Rocks and minerals (e.g., der Granit)

Suffix-Based Rules

  • All masculine
    • -ismus (e.g., der Kapitalismus)
  • Nearly all masculine
    • -ant, -ast (e.g., der Elefant, der Enthusiast)
    • -ich, -ig (e.g., der Teppich, der Honig)
    • -ling (e.g., der Schmetterling)
    • -or (e.g., der Motor)
    • -us (e.g., der Bonus)
  • Most masculine
    • -er, -en, el (e.g., der Lehrer, der Garten, der Apfel)

Feminine Nouns (die)

Meaning-Based Rules

  • All feminine:
    • Named machines (e.g., die Boeing 747, die Titanic)
    • Numerals used as nouns (e.g., die Eins)
  • Nearly all feminine:
    • Rivers within German-speaking countries (e.g., die Donau)
  • Most feminine:
    • Trees, flowers, and fruits (e.g., die Rose, die Birne)

Suffix-Based Rules

  • All feminine:
    • -ade, -age (e.g., die Marmelade, die Garage)
    • -anz (e.g., die Toleranz, die Intelligenz)
    • -ei (e.g., die Bäckerei, die Melodie)
    • -ere (e.g., die Konfessere)
    • -ette, -atte (e.g., die Kassette, die Krawatte)
    • -ik (e.g., die Musik)
    • -ion, (e.g., die Nation, die Diskussion)
    • -tät (e.g., die Universität, die Qualität)
    • -in, -ung (e.g., die Lehrerin, die Zeitung)
    • -heit, -keit (e.g., die Freiheit, die Möglichkeit)
    • -schaft (e.g., die Mannschaft)
    • -sis (e.g., die Basis)
    • -ur (e.g., die Kultur)
  • Nearly all feminine:
    • -a (e.g., die Pizza)
  • Most feminine:
    • -e (e.g., die Blume)

Neuter Nouns (das)

Meaning-Based Rules

  • All neuter:
    • Words that were made into nouns (e.g., das Essen, das Rauchen, das Blau)
    • Young humans and animals (e.g., das Kind, das Kätzchen)
  • Most neuter:
    • Collective nouns with Ge- prefix (e.g., das Gebirge)
    • Metals and chemical elements not ending in -stoff (e.g., das Gold)
    • Units (except der Meter & der Liter) (e.g., das Gramm)
    • Continents, countries, provinces, and cities (e.g., das Deutschland)
    • Fractions and percentages (e.g., das Drittel)

Suffix-Based Rules

  • All neuter:
    • -chen, -lein (e.g., das Mädchen, das Fräulein)
    • -ment (e.g., das Instrument)
    • -um (e.g., das Zentrum)
  • Nearly all neuter:
    • -icht (e.g., das Licht)
    • -il (e.g., das Ventil)
    • -ing (e.g., das Training)
    • -ma (e.g., das Thema)
    • -tel, -sel (e.g., das Viertel)
  • Most neuter:
    • -nis (e.g., das Ergebnis)
    • -tum (e.g., das Eigentum)
    • -o (e.g., das Auto)