For many learners of German, the articles are a real nightmare, mainly because they convey a different message than in English. However, there are some simple rules that will allow you to recognize which article to use with which noun.
When a noun has one of these endings it is almost always of the feminine gender:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| –heit | die Krankenheit (the disease), die Freiheit (the freedom) |
| –keit | die Pünktlichkeit (the punctuality), die Ehrlichkeit (the honesty) |
| –ung | die Ordnung (the order), die Prüfung (the test) – exceptions: der Dung (the manure), der Schwung (the verve), der Sprung (the leap) |
| –schaft | die Gesellschaft (the society), die Freundschaft (the friendship) |
| –erei | die Malerei (the painting), die Träumerei (the dreaming) |
| –sion | die Diskussion (the discussion), die Pension (the pension) |
| –tion | die Information (the information), die Organisation (the organization) |
| –e (the vast majority of nouns ending in -e are feminine, but there are also masculine and neutral nouns with this ending) | die Liebe (the love), die Woche (the week) |
In addition, nouns of foreign origin ending in:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| –ität | die Qualität (the quality), die Kreativität (the creativity) |
| –anz | die Toleranz (the tolerance), die Eleganz (the elegance) |
| –enz | die Existenz (the existence), die Konsequenz (the consequence) |
| –ik | die Musik (the music), die Logik (the logic) – exceptions: der Katholik (the catholic), der Atlantik (the Atlantic), der Pazifik (the Pacific), das Mosaik (the mosaic), das Plastik (the plastic) |
| –ur | die Architektur (the architecture), die Temperatur (the temperature) – exceptions: das Futur (the future), der Purpur (purple), der Flur (the hall) |
Moreover, numbers, trees, fruits, rivers and flowers (with a few exceptions) are feminine nouns. Look at these examples:
| German | English |
|---|---|
| die Zahlen: die Eins, die Zehn | numbers: one, ten |
| die Bäume: die Buche, die Eiche | trees: beech, oak |
| das Obst: die Erdbeere, die Banane | fruit: strawberry, banana |
| die Flüsse: die Donau, die Weichsel | rivers: the Danube, the Vistula |
| die Blumen: die Rose, die Tulpe | flowers: rose, tulip |
Check out our other articles about masculine nouns with the article “der” and neuter nouns with the article “das”.
If you want to know more about using articles in general, read our article “German articles: definite, indefinite and zero article”.
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