Singular Noun Markers
Masculine
|
Feminine
|
Neuter
|
|
the
|
der
|
die
|
das
|
one,
a, an
|
ein
|
eine
|
ein
|
Singular Nouns
The nouns in the following table are easy to remember. There is an obvious correspondence between the grammatical gender of the noun marker and the natural gender of the noun.Gender-Obvious Nouns
Masculine
Noun
|
Pronunciation
|
English
|
der
Bruder
|
deyR
bRew-duhR
|
The
brother
|
der
Cousin
|
deyR
koo-zin
|
The
cousin
|
der
Freund
|
deyR
fRoynt
|
The
friend
|
der
Vater
|
deyR
fah-tuhR
|
The
father
|
ein
Mann
|
ayn
mAn
|
The
man
|
ein
Sohn
|
ayn
zohn
|
The
son
|
Feminine
Noun
|
Pronunciation
|
English
|
die
Schwester
|
dee
shves-tuhR
|
The
sister
|
die
Cousine
|
dee
koo-zee-nuh
|
The
cousin
|
die
Freundin
|
dee
froyn-din
|
The
friend
|
die
Mutter
|
dee
moo-tuhR
|
The
mother
|
eine
Frau
|
ay-nuh
fRou
|
The
woman
|
eine
Tochter
|
ay-nuh
toCH-tuhR
|
The
daughter
|
In
German, there are certain nouns that never change their gender,
regardless of whether they refer to a male or a female person or
animal. Here are a few of them:
German
|
Pronunciation
|
English
|
das
Kind
|
dAs
kint
|
The
child
|
das
Model
|
dAs
moh-del
|
The
model
|
das
Individuum
|
dAs
in-dee-vee-doo-oom
|
The
individual
|
der
Flüchtling
|
deyR
fl üHt-ling
|
The
refugee
|
das
Opfer
|
dAs
op-feR
|
The
victim
|
das
Genie
|
dAs
jey-nee
|
The
genius
|
die
Person
|
dee
peR-zohn
|
The
person
|
In
most cases, making nouns feminine is as easy as dropping the vowel
(if the noun ends in a vowel), adding -into the masculine
noun and if the noun contains an a , an o ,
or a u , modifying this vowel: der Koch ( deyR
koCH), for example, becomes die Köchin ( dee kö-Hin ).
The follwing table lists some common nouns that can undergo sex
changes.
Masculine
Ending
|
Feminine
Ending
|
English
Meaning
|
der
Lehrer
deyR ley-Ruhr |
die
Lehrer indee ley-Ruh-Rin
|
The
teacher
|
der
Schüler
deyR sh üh-luhr |
die
Schüler indee sh üh-luh-Rin
|
The
school
boy/girl |
der
Arzt
deyR aRst |
die
Ärtzt indee äRts-tin
|
The
doctor
|
der
Bauer
deyR bou-uhr |
die
Bäuer indee boy-eyE-in
|
The
farmer
|
der
Löwe
deyR löh-wuh |
die
Löw indee löh-vin
|
The
lion
|
