Finding the right gender of a noun

German articles are used similarly to the English articles,a and the. However, they are declined differently (change) according to the number, gender and case of their nouns.

In the German language, the gender and therefore article is fixed for each noun.

The most difficult part of learning the German language is the articles (der, die, das) or rather the gender of each noun. The gender of each noun in German has no simple rule. In fact, it can even seem illogical. For example das Mädchen, a young girl is neutral while der Junge, a young boy is male.

It is a good idea to learn the correct article for each new word together - even if it means a lot of work. For example learning "der Hund" (the dog) rather than just Hund by itself. Fortunately, there are some rules about gender in German that make things a little easier. It might be even nicer if these rules didn't have exceptions - but you can't have everything! The best way to learn them is with the App - Der-Die-Das Train! (available for iOS and Android)

German nouns belong either to the gender masculine (male, standard gender) with the definite article der, to the feminine (feminine) with the definite article die, or to the neuter (neuter) with the definite article das.

• for masculine: points of the compass, weather (Osten, Monsun, Sturm; however it is: das Gewitter), liquor/spirits (Wodka, Wein, Kognak), minerals, rocks (Marmor, Quarz, Granit, Diamant);

• for feminine: ships and airplanes (die Deutschland, die Boeing; however it is: der Airbus), cigarette brands (Camel, Marlboro), many tree and plant species (Eiche, Pappel, Kiefer; aber: der Flieder), numbers (Eins, Million; however it is: das Dutzend), most inland rivers (Elbe, Oder, Donau; aber: der Rhein);

• for neutrals: cafes, hotels, cinemas (das Mariott, das Cinemaxx), chemical elements (Helium, Arsen; however it is: der Schwefel, masculine elements have the suffix -stoff), letters, notes, languages and colors (das Orange, das A, das Englische), certain brand names for detergents and cleaning products (Ariel, Persil), continents, countries (die artikellosen: (das alte) Europa; however exceptions include: der Libanon, die Schweiz …).

German declension of Eis?

How does the declension of Eis work in the nominative, accusative, dative and genitive cases? Here you can find all forms in the singular as well as in the plural:

[1] Water in the solid state ; frozen water

[2] short for: ice cream, a frozen dessert

[1] Es ist so kalt, dass Wasser sofort zu Eis gefriert.

[1] Bei "Eis" mag man an Winter, Schnee und Frost denken, an arktische Temperaturen und überfrierende Nässe. Vermutlich ist jedoch vielen der Gedanke an einen Eisbecher an einem warmen Sommertag angenehmer.[3]

[1] Das Eis in den Polarmeeren scheint ein unbelebter Ort zu sein. Zwar laufen Eisbären oder Pinguine auf seiner Oberfläche, Fische und Robben schwimmen unter ihm her - das Eis selbst hingegen ist für viele nichts weiter als ein Klumpen gefrorenes Wasser.[4]

[1] „Dolochow, der mitten in der Menschenmasse stand, zwängte sich bis an den Rand des Dammes durch, stiess dabei zwei Soldaten um und lief dann auf das schlüpfrige Eis, das den Teich bedeckte.“[5]

[2] „Das Eis ist sehr lecker!“

[2] Eiscreme ist köstlich. Hat aber - vor allem, wenn es warm ist - einen entscheidenden Nachteil: sie schmilzt. Und nichts ist nerviger als sich verflüssigendes Eis, wenn es klebrig über die Finger läuft, man dem flüssigen Sahne-Schokoladen- oder Erdbeerzeug nicht mehr hinterherkommt und es unkontrolliert aufs T-Shirt tropft.[6]

German declension of Eis?

How does the declension of Eis work in the nominative, accusative, dative and genitive cases? Here you can find all forms in the singular as well as in the plural:

[1] Music: tone with 352 Hz and all tones octave apart, E increased by a semitone

[1] Denke bitte daran in Takt 5 ein Eis zu spielen!