getting around

Guessing German Gender 

When learning the gender of a noun , students are often urged to

  1. Memorize the gender of a noun by brute force, or
  2. Consult a long list of gender rules containing an even greater number of exceptions

However, I suggest a method that could considerably improve your odds when guessing gender.   Essentially, you guess the gender by following a process of elimination: 

1. Could it be a feminine noun (die)?

There are a dozen or so noun suffixes that strongly indicate feminine gender (die).  The following endings will become familiar to you as you learn German; however, you do not need to memorize this list and check it against all German nouns encountered.  Rather, note that the greatest number of suffixes indicate feminine gender.  Therefore, if you encounter a familiar ending, guess that it is feminine (die) and place your bets on "die" when you encounter a familiar noun suffix.  Simply stated, if there is a familiar ending, the noun is more likely to be feminine (die).  Here they are:

-e -ei -schaft -heit -keit -ung - tät -ion -ik -ie -enz -anz -ur

2. If it doesn't seem to be a feminine noun, could it be a neuter noun (das)?

The suffixes for diminutives indicate  neuter gender (-chen, -lein).  Also, German verbs can become German nouns by capitalizing the first letter - das Schwimmen (swimming), das Lernen (learning), das Trinken (drinking).  Also, many short words of foreign origin are neuter (Bild, Taxi, Kino, Kiosk, Hobby, Poster, Radio, Auto, Sofa, Baby). There are also a couple suffixes (-ium -ment) that indicate neuter gender (das). 

3. If it is not feminine or neuter, then the elimination process leaves you with masculine gender (der). 

A short list of suffixes indicates masculine gender (-ig -ling -ant -us).  Interestingly, most lists of gender rules start with the masculine nouns.  But there are other interesting patterns that masculine nouns; for example, nouns that stand on the floor, as well as the floor (Fußboden) itself  and rug (Teppich), are masculine:

Fussboden, Teppich, Tisch, Stuhl, Shrank, Papierkorb, Schuh, Computer.