How to Germany: the German articles der, die, das
First of all, you are not alone learning all nouns in German and the article that goes along with the word- many people do and struggle. Not much of help – we know – but be assured, many students seem to lose their minds over it just like you! Therefore, we are hoping to provide some tips and tricks in order to learn the German articles more efficiently!
Some general info about der, die and das
No real system
Please do not try to find a system or pattern for the articles. Yet, there are some things that totally make sense: der Junge (male, as the boy is male), die Frau (female as the woman is female) but das Mädchen (neutral, as the girl is neutral? No..) See. In conclusion, accepting that there is no system is the first step to mastering the task!
Using the rules that are there
Well, we just told you, there is no system and that’s right but there are some rules. Yeah. Rules. Let us meet some of them – another way of mastering the German articles!
- Often German words that have a male and female version like actor and actress use the logic (biologic) article that goes with the word. For example: der Kellner (the waiter), die Kellnerin (the waitress). Other words are der Schauspieler/die Schauspielerin, der Koch/die Köchin, der Polizist/die Polizistin, der Arzt/die Ärztin and many more.
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Words that end in
- – ung
- –ing
- –ion
- –heit
- –keit
- -schaft
ALWAYS use the female article “die”. Always.
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Words that end in
- – ment
- –nis
- – um
- – tum
- – lein
- –chen
ALWAYS use the neutral article “das”. Always.
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Words that end in
- – ant
- – ent
- – ich
- –ling
- –ist
ALWAYS use the male article “der”. Always.
Preparation is key
Lastly, best advice we can give to you on the German articles – when you start learning a new word – always learn the article with it right from the beginning. Write it on your flashcard, put the article in your vocabulary book or app – make sure the noun and the article are connected! Book at teacher with https://www.lostintranslation.de/courses/ to get the support you need!
Your Turn
What’s your approach to learning the German articles ? Leave us your tips and tricks below in the comment section!