Noun gender: der, die and das

In brief

Every German noun has a grammatical gender: masculine, feminine, or neuter. In a simple sentence, the words der, die, and das show which gender a noun has. Gender belongs to the word, not necessarily to the person or thing it names: das Kind means ‘the child,’ whatever the child’s gender. English nouns do not work this way, so learn the German gender along with each new noun.

Form

Masculine: der Tisch; feminine: die Lampe; neuter: das Kind. Learn each noun as a pair with der, die, or das.

Usage

• Use der, die, or das as a memory aid when learning a new noun.
• Do not guess a noun’s gender from its English translation or from the object itself.
• These forms show gender when the noun is the subject of a simple sentence.

Examples

• Der Tisch ist groß. — The table is big.
• Die Lampe ist neu. — The lamp is new.
• Das Kind spielt. — The child is playing.

Common mistake

❌ Die Tisch ist groß.

✅ Der Tisch ist groß.

Tisch is masculine, so its gender is shown by der here. English ‘the’ gives no clue to the German noun’s gender.

Remember

Learn der Tisch, die Lampe, and das Kind as whole units.