Are there any tricks that can help me learn the gender of nouns in German?

In German, all nouns are masculine (der), feminine (die), neuter (das) or plural (die).
On the whole you need to learn the genders individually, however there some guidelines that can help you..
Nouns that are masculine by meaning
- Male people, e.g. der Artz, der Vater
- Seasons, months and days of the week, e.g. der Juni, der Freitag, der Winter
- Cardinal directions (e.g. North, South, East, West), e.g. der Norden
Nouns that are feminine by meaning
- Female people, e.g. die Frau, die Mutter
- Most trees, flowes and fruits, e.g. eine Ananas
Nouns that are neuter by meaning
- Young people and animals, e.g. das Baby, das Kind, das Ferkel (piglet)
- Hotels, cafes, restaurants and cinemas, e.g. das Ritz, das Café Rouge, das Cineworld, etc
- Names of continents, countries and towns, e.g. das Afrika, das Frankreich (France), etc
Nouns that are masculine by ending
- Nouns that end in -el; -en; -er; -ig; -ich; -ling; -and; -ant; -ar; -är; -ast; -ent; -ier; -ist; -ismus; -or; -us are normally masculine
Nouns that are feminine by ending
- Nouns that end in -age; -e; -ei; -heit; -keit; -schaft; -ie; -ek; -eke; -ik; -in; -ion; -tät, -ung, -ur are normally feminine
Nouns that are neuter by ending
- Nouns that end in -tum; -ment; -ium; -um; -ett are normally neuter

JD
Answered by Joseph D. German tutor

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