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 Franken?

How does the declension of Franken 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] A region in southern Germany that includes the north-east of Bavaria, the northeastern Baden-Württemberg and South Thuringia and thus corresponds to the eastern part of the Historical Duchy of Franconia (see [3])

[2] Historical: The Franconian Empire from the 5th to the 9th century with its climax under Charlemagne

[3] Historical: The Duchy of Franconia, one of the tribal duchies of the East Franconian Empire, which developed towards the end of the Karoling era in the early 10th century. Its area included today's Hesse, the northern Baden-Württemberg, South Thuringia, large parts of Rhineland-Palatinate and the Franconian areas in Bavaria.

[1] Sie kommt aus Franken.

[1] Sieglinde ist seit ihrem ersten Aufenthalt in Franken vor mehr als 30 Jahren von der Schönheit der Region betört.

[1] Die Jürgensens leben seit Kurzem im Herzen Frankens, weil Frau Jürgensen dort ein stattliches Haus geerbt hat.

[2] Den Höhepunkt seiner Macht und Ausdehnung erreichte Franken unter Karl dem Großen.

[3] Die Aufstände […] endeten 939 mit dem Tod Eberhards und dem vorläufigen Ende des Herzogtitels in Franken nach nur 33 Jahren.

German declension of Franken?

How does the declension of Franken 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] currency: in Switzerland

[2] Currency: Different historical currencies

[1] Das kostet 4 Franken.

[1] Die Omi hat dem Rudi und mir 20 Franken geschenkt.

[2] Damals gab es noch den Belgischen Franken.