Is it der, die oder das Fernweh?

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 Fernweh?

How does the declension of Fernweh 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] Longing for the distance, for distant countries

[1] Das beste Mittel gegen Fernweh ist eine Urlaubsreise.

[1] »Heimweh? … Nein, wahrlich, ich glaube, ich habe gerade das Gegenteil, ich habe »Fernweh«.

[1] 1923 heuerte Walter Spies, vom Fernweh getrieben, als Matrose an und ging in Batavia, dem heutigen Jakarta an Land, wo er schon bald das Hoforchester des Sultans leitete.

[1] Fernweh ist am wichtigsten für Branchen Tourismus- und Luftfahrt.

[1] Immer beliebter werden sogenannte „Ethno-Supermärkte“, besonders in Wien. Hier kaufen die einen aus Heimweh, die anderen aus Fernweh – und immer mehr, um einfach exotischer zu essen.

[1] „Travel bug“ oder „itchy feet“ – für das Fernweh gibt es in der englischen Sprache so manch wunderliche Übersetzung. Am interessantesten und wohl treffendsten ist jedoch die Variante „wanderlust“.

[1] Auch heute reisen viele Menschen gern mit dem Schiff; das belegt der anhaltende Boom von Kreuzfahrt-Reisen. Fernweh und die Sehnsucht nach fremden Ländern sind ein Grund dafür.