Difference between revisions of "Language/German/Grammar/Gender"

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In German nouns are either masculine (male), feminine (female) or neuter (things/entities without a natural gender like book, sun or moon). The grammatical gender is not always identical with the natural gender of a noun in German. Be carful: the grammatical gender of a noun in your native language can be different from the grammatical gender of the noun in German.
In German nouns are either masculine (male), feminine (female) or neuter (things/entities without a natural gender like book, sun or moon). The grammatical gender is not always identical with the natural gender of a noun in German. Be carful: the grammatical gender of a noun in your native language can be different from the grammatical gender of the noun in German.


<u>For example:</u>


For example:
''das Mädchen neuter - girl''


*''das Mädchen neuter - girl''
Girls are female, the natural gender of a girl is female, but the grammatical gender of "Mädchen" in German is neuter.
Girls are female, the natural gender of a girl is female, but the grammatical gender of "Mädchen" in German is neuter.


*''die Sonne in German is feminine - the sun in English is masculine''
''die Sonne in German is feminine - the sun in English is masculine''
*''der Mond in German is masculine - the moon in English is feminine''


''der Mond in German is masculine - the moon in English is feminine''


Why is it so important to know the grammatical gender of a noun in German? In German you often have to use an article with the noun. The articles for the three types of gender and the different cases are not the same. To use the correct article you have to know the grammatical gender.  
Why is it so important to know the grammatical gender of a noun in German? In German you often have to use an article with the noun. The articles for the three types of gender and the different cases are not the same. To use the correct article you have to know the grammatical gender.  
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Example for definite (''der, die, das'') and indefinite (''ein, eine'') articles in German:
Example for definite (''der, die, das'') and indefinite (''ein, eine'') articles in German:


==Singular==
'''Singular''' (man - ''Mann'', woman - ''Frau'', girl - ''Mädchen'')
(man - ''Mann'', woman - ''Frau'', girl - ''Mädchen'')
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!Case
!Case
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The man is talking to his child. He wears a black shirt.
The man is talking to his child. He wears a black shirt.


*'''''Der Mann''' spricht mit '''seinem''' Kind. '''Er''' trägt ein schwarzes Shirt.''  
'''''Der Mann''' spricht mit '''seinem''' Kind. '''Er''' trägt ein schwarzes Shirt.''  


For nouns that describe a profession you are able to "transform" the grammatical gender from masculine to feminine in German. Similar to the transformation of the noun ''actor'' as the expression for a male actor to the noun ''actress'' as the expression for a female actor in English.
For nouns that describe a profession you are able to "transform" the grammatical gender from masculine to feminine in German. Similar to the transformation of the noun ''actor'' as the expression for a male actor to the noun ''actress'' as the expression for a female actor in English.
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der Fahrer (driver) -> die Fahrer'''in'''
der Fahrer (driver) -> die Fahrer'''in'''
<nowiki>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</nowiki>
In this lesson, we learn the "Gender" subject in Deutsch. Follow the lesson.
When you talk about a female, say "eine" instead "ein" ( ein/eine = a/an).
eine => female
ein => male
Example: Ich bin eine Lehrerin.
Look at the sentence again, we say "Lehrerin" instead "Lehrer". Yes! When we talk about a female, we should add one "in" at the end of the sentence.
Example :
Ich bin eine Busfahrerin (Busfahrer)
Ich bin eine Ingenieurin (Ingenieur)
___________
Note: all German names, have gender :| (I mean these words also have gender : bravery, sunset and ...)
In Deutsch we have 3 types of verbs in the third person.
Sie (She)  => Female
Er (He) => Male
Es (Neutral) => Things
Example :
Sie ist eine Forografin (She is a Photographer)
Er ist ein Fotograf (He is a Photographer)
Note: Don't worry for "es"
Note: all German names, have gender :| (I mean also this words have gender : bravery, sunset and ...)
Der (The) => Male
Die (The) => Female
Das (The) => Neutral
See that :
die Jahreszeiten (the seasons) => Gender : Female
der weg (the way) => Gender : Male
Good luck.

Revision as of 09:04, 15 April 2019

In German nouns are either masculine (male), feminine (female) or neuter (things/entities without a natural gender like book, sun or moon). The grammatical gender is not always identical with the natural gender of a noun in German. Be carful: the grammatical gender of a noun in your native language can be different from the grammatical gender of the noun in German.

For example:

das Mädchen neuter - girl

Girls are female, the natural gender of a girl is female, but the grammatical gender of "Mädchen" in German is neuter.

die Sonne in German is feminine - the sun in English is masculine

der Mond in German is masculine - the moon in English is feminine

Why is it so important to know the grammatical gender of a noun in German? In German you often have to use an article with the noun. The articles for the three types of gender and the different cases are not the same. To use the correct article you have to know the grammatical gender.

Example for definite (der, die, das) and indefinite (ein, eine) articles in German:

Singular (man - Mann, woman - Frau, girl - Mädchen)

Case masculine feminine neuter
Nominativ der / ein Mann die / eine Frau das / ein Mädchen
Genitiv des / eines Mannes der / einer Frau des / eines Mädchens
Dativ dem / einem Mann der / einer Frau dem / einem Mädchen
Akkusativ den / einen Mann die / eine Frau das /ein Mädchen

Pronouns that replace nouns are different for gender and cases, too. So you have to know the grammatical gender to use the correct pronoun in German sentences.

Example:

The man is talking to his child. He wears a black shirt.

Der Mann spricht mit seinem Kind. Er trägt ein schwarzes Shirt.

For nouns that describe a profession you are able to "transform" the grammatical gender from masculine to feminine in German. Similar to the transformation of the noun actor as the expression for a male actor to the noun actress as the expression for a female actor in English.

der Schauspieler (actor) -> die Schauspielerin (actress)

der Doktor (doctor) -> die Doktorin

der Fahrer (driver) -> die Fahrerin

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