NOUN GENDER IN A GERMAN LANGUAGE By Esther Omutere The gender of a noun is its 'sex'. In English we have no genders, but in many languages nouns have different genders or 'sex'. The German language, like other European languages, has a method of classifying nouns, called gender. Gender in language is just a classifier, and does not necessarily imply any specific meaning on the noun itself. Though Romance languages (those descended from Latin, such as Spanish, Italian, and French) have two genders (masculine and feminine), As if learning masculine and feminine genders is not enough, learning the German language is made a little more difficult still, German has three (masculine, feminine, and neuter). Though it can be confusing to memorize which noun has which gender, there are some patterns masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns follow, though there are many exceptions. The biggest difficulty with these German language genders is that there is no real 'rhyme nor reason' as to whether a word is masculine, feminine or neuter The 'definite article (the)' for masculine or male words is der, for feminine or female words is die and for neuter words is das. Der, die and das are the same as "the" in English - the DEFINITE ARTICLE. In German the definite article is much more important than it is in English. For one thing, it is used more often. In English we might say: "Nature is wonderful." In German, the article would be also be included: "Die Natur ist wunderschön." So knowing which article to use becomes even more important! The masculine definite article (“the”) is der, feminine is die, and neuter is das. German-speakers just seem to know whether Wagen (car) is der or die or das. (It's der Wagen.) And they also know that the other German word for car is das Auto. But when referring to cars by brand name, it's always der Ford, der VW or der Mercedes. It's not the actual person, place or thing that has gender in German, but the WORD that stands for the actual thing. That's why a “car” can be either das Auto (neut.) or der Wagen (masc.). The INDEFINITE ARTICLE ("a" or "an" in English) is ein or eine in German. Ein basically means "one" and like the definite article, it indicates the gender of the noun it goes with (eine or ein). For a feminine noun, only eine can be used (in the nominative case). For masculine or neuter nouns, only ein is correct. This is a very important concept to learn! It is also reflected in the use of possessive adjectives such as sein(e) (his) or mein(e) (my), which are also called "ein-words." Gender is sometimes natural-der Mann/ein Mann (man, masc.), die Frau/eine Frau (woman, fem.), but more often it is not: das Mädchen (girl, neuter). Nor does noun gender carry over from one language to another. The sun is feminine in German (die Sonne) but masculine in Spanish (el sol). A table is masculine in German (der Tisch) but feminine in French (la table). But it is the WORD, not the thing that has gender, and it makes little sense to worry about the whys of gender. Just concentrate on learning the genders. Memorization is key, but you can also use little hints to help you remember a noun's gender. For

NOUN GENDER IN A GERMAN LANGUAGE By Esther Omutere The gender of a noun is its 'sex'. In English we have no genders, but in many languages nouns have different genders or 'sex'. The German language, like other European languages, has a method of classifying nouns, called gender. Gender in language is just a classifier, and does not necessarily imply any specific meaning on the noun itself. Though Romance languages (those descended from Latin, such as Spanish, Italian, and French) have two genders (masculine and feminine), As if learning masculine and feminine genders is not enough, learning the German language is made a little more difficult still, German has three (masculine, feminine, and neuter). Though it can be confusing to memorize which noun has which gender, there are some patterns masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns follow, though there are many exceptions. The biggest difficulty with these German language genders is that there is no real 'rhyme nor reason' as to whether a word is masculine, feminine or neuter The 'definite article (the)' for masculine or male words is der, for feminine or female words is die and for neuter words is das. Der, die and das are the same as "the" in English - the DEFINITE ARTICLE. In German the definite article is much more important than it is in English. For one thing, it is used more often. In English we might say: "Nature is wonderful." In German, the article would be also be included: "Die Natur ist wunderschön." So knowing which article to use becomes even more important! The masculine definite article (“the”) is der, feminine is die, and neuter is das. German-speakers just seem to know whether Wagen (car) is der or die or das. (It's der Wagen.) And they also know that the other German word for car is das Auto. But when referring to cars by brand name, it's always der Ford, der VW or der Mercedes. It's not the actual person, place or thing that has gender in German, but the WORD that stands for the actual thing. That's why a “car” can be either das Auto (neut.) or der Wagen (masc.). The INDEFINITE ARTICLE ("a" or "an" in English) is ein or eine in German. Ein basically means "one" and like the definite article, it indicates the gender of the noun it goes with (eine or ein). For a feminine noun, only eine can be used (in the nominative case). For masculine or neuter nouns, only ein is correct. This is a very important concept to learn! It is also reflected in the use of possessive adjectives such as sein(e) (his) or mein(e) (my), which are also called "ein-words." Gender is sometimes natural-der Mann/ein Mann (man, masc.), die Frau/eine Frau (woman, fem.), but more often it is not: das Mädchen (girl, neuter). Nor does noun gender carry over from one language to another. The sun is feminine in German (die Sonne) but masculine in Spanish (el sol). A table is masculine in German (der Tisch) but feminine in French (la table). But it is the WORD, not the thing that has gender, and it makes little sense to worry about the whys of gender. Just concentrate on learning the genders. Memorization is key, but you can also use little hints to help you remember a noun's gender. For example, to remind yourself that die Natur, nature, is feminine, you might think of "Mother Nature." As you continue your studies, always learn a new noun and its gender together-as a unit. This important step will become increasingly important as you advance in German. Forget linking gender to a specific meaning or concept. Although nouns for people often follow natural gender, there are exceptions