German Noun Gender: The Second 40 Nouns

Question 1: Social Connections

Colour Coding: Masculine • Feminine • Neuter

• There are many nouns in German with a masculine alternative that, with the simple addition of an -in ending, become feminine nouns. Words ending in -in are usually feminine. For example, der Freund (male friend, boyfriend) is the initial form leading to die Freundin (female friend, girlfriend).

• All words ending in -schaft are feminine: e.g. die Freundschaft - friendship

Social Connections
	Form of "the"	Noun	Plural Form	Meaning
1		Freund	-e	friend (m)
2		Freundin	-nen	friend (f)
3		Freundschaft	-en	friendships
4		Liebe	-n	love
5		Kollege	-n	colleague (m)
6		Kollegin	-nen	colleague (f)
7		Chef	-s	boss (m)
8		Chefin	-nen	boss (f)
9		Team	-s	team (work)
10		Mannschaft	-en	team (sport)

Question 2: Daily Existence

Colour Coding: Masculine • Feminine • Neuter

Words ending in -o are usually neuter.

Daily Existence
	Form of "the"	Noun	Plural Form	Meaning
1		Brot	-e	bread
2		Wasser	---	water
3		Tee	Teesorten	tea
4		Kaffee	---	coffee
5		Café	-s	café
6		Restaurant	-s	restaurant
7		Tasse	-n	cup
8		Auto	-s	car
9		Fahrrad	Fahrräder	bike
10		Zug	Züge	train

Question 3: In the House

Colour Coding: Masculine • Feminine • Neuter

Sometimes you encounter "triples" in German gender study: three words of similar meaning with three different genders. While this might lead you to rail against fate, it actually helps to focus on these three words: by learning the triple, you remember each individual case more easily. In the group of nouns below, there is an example of just such a triple: die Couch, das Sofa and der Sessel (armchair).

In the House
	Form of "the"	Noun	Plural Form	Meaning
1		Haus	Häuser	house
2		Zimmer	(-)	room
3		Tisch	(-)	table
4		Stuhl	Stühle	chair
5		Bett	-en	bed
6		Lampe	-n	lamp
7		Couch	-en / -s	couch
8		Sofa	-s	sofa
9		Sessel	(-)	armchair
10		Toilette	-n	toilet

Question 4: Learning

Colour Coding: Masculine • Feminine • Neuter

• Words of foreign origin ending in -tät are always feminine.

Learning
	Form of "the"	Noun	Plural Form	Meaning
1		Buch	Bücher	book
2		Webseite	-n	website
3		Schule	Schulen	school
4		Schulfach	Schulfächer	school subjects
5		Universität	-en	university
6		Film	-e	film
7		Thema	Themen	theme, topic
8		Frage	-n	question
9		Information	-en	information
10		Sprache	-en	language