Gender

German nouns are either masculine, feminine or neuter in gender. Gender is strictly a grammatical concept. Germans do not feel that the corresponding items have male, female or neuter attributes just because of their grammatical gender. The definite articles der, die, das are masculine, feminine, and neuter respectively:

Neither meaning nor spelling offers reliable clues about the gender of German nouns. Genders must be learned with the words themselves. German nouns are always capitalized.

Plurals

German nouns form plurals in several ways. The plural form is arbitrary and must be memorized. Fortunately the most common plurals are the easiest. The following table shows the dictionary entry for three very common plural types and how to interpret these abbreviations:

"–" means: No change between singular and plural:

DICTIONARY ENTRY

Dollar, – (der)
 

DICTIONARY ENTRY

Mark, – (die)
 

"-en/-n" means: Add "-en" or "-n":

DICTIONARY ENTRY

Bank, –en (die)
 

DICTIONARY ENTRY

Münze, –n (die)
 

"-e" means: Add "-e":

DICTIONARY ENTRY

Schein, –e (der)
 

"Mass" Nouns

Certain nouns denote masses rather than individual items: e.g. money (as opposed to dollars). Mass nouns do not have a plural form.

" " means: Plural form is absent

DICTIONARY ENTRY

Geld (das)
 

Examples of Gender and Plural

• Ist das die Bank da links?
• Augenblick mal. Ja, ich habe eine Reservierung für Sie, Herr Smith.