Masculine Gender in German

The masculine gender der is the Definite Article - the - for masculine nouns in German.

Although a lot of German nouns are masculine, masculinity is often but not always linked to the meaning of the word it precedes.

So just because something is obviously masculine, it does not necessarily have a masculine gender.

The list below will assist you to determine which nouns are masculine (der/ein words) in German.

Many in the list typically follow the rules, but there are always, of course, exceptions to learn!

Words for the following are usually masculine gender.

1. Occupations (ie: der Arzt)

2. Nationalities (ie: der Deutscher)

3. Ending in “er” (ie: der Täter)

4. Names of natural elements (ie: der Berg)

5. Rivers outside of Europe (ie: der Mississippi)

6. Seasons (ie: der Winter)

7. Precipitation (ie: der Schnee)

8. Nouns ending in “ich” (ie: der Settich)

9. Names of cars (ie: der BMW)

10. Words ending in “ling” (ie: der Frühling)

11. Names of alcoholic drinks (ie: der Wodka)

12. Words that end in “ismus” (ie: der Journalismus)

13. Directions (ie: der Süden)

14. Days (ie: der Montag)

15. Months (ie: der Juli)

16. Words ending in “ner” (ie: Herr Schaffner)

Keep in mind that most of the hints listed above work for determining masculinity, but not all.

So as you learn German nouns, learn the articles that go to them.

What’s an easy way to remember them?

The 200 Words a Day! courses make this a simple, one-step exercise.

Incorporated into the Memory Trigger of every word, and its cartoon, are Gender Triggers. Learn the noun and its gender in one step. Let our Gender Triggers do the work for you, so you learn and remember the gender at the same time as learning the word.

Note the:

Male character in the cartoon
Blue color-coding
Male voice (in the programme)

Remember the picture, remember the word and its gender!

Feminine and Neuter nouns have their own unique Gender Triggers.

Learn more about the learning German vocab and remembering feminine, neuter and masculine genders.