{"id":6100,"date":"2012-08-02T08:35:44","date_gmt":"2012-08-02T07:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/?p=6100"},"modified":"2014-09-08T15:34:36","modified_gmt":"2014-09-08T14:34:36","slug":"german-neutral-nouns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/6100\/german-neutral-nouns","title":{"rendered":"German Neutral Nouns"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

German Neutral Nouns<\/h3>\n

We all know how difficult it is to guess the right gender if it comes to German nouns. The bad news is: There is no official rule for when to use der, die and das. The good news is: There are guidelines which will make it easier to choose between them. In this post we will be looking at the guidlines for das words<\/strong>. You might also want to check out our blog about male nouns<\/a> and female nouns<\/a>. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Guidlines for Neutral Nouns<\/h3>\n

1. Young People and Animals<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Nouns which refer to a young person or animal are usually das<\/strong> words. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
German
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		English<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Baby<\/td>\nbaby<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Kind<\/td>\nchild<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das M\u00e4dchen<\/td>\ngirl<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das K\u00fcken<\/td>\nchick<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Lamm<\/td>\nlamb<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

2. Colours<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Colours when used as a noun are das<\/strong> words. Here is a list of the most common ones:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
German
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		English<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Gelb<\/td>\nyellow<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Rot<\/td>\nred<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Blau<\/td>\nblue<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Gr\u00fcn<\/td>\ngreen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Orange<\/td>\norange<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Schwarz<\/td>\nblack<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Wei\u00df<\/td>\nwhite<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Braun<\/td>\nbrown<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

3. Names of Hotels and Theatres<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Hotel and theatre names are usually das<\/strong> words. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
German
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Hilton<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Novotel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Ritz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das IBIS<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Sheraton<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Broadway Theater<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Mayflower Theater<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das West End Theater<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

4. Verbs used as Nouns<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

All verbs which are used as nouns are das<\/strong> words. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
German
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		English<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Fliegen<\/td>\nthe flying<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Joggen<\/td>\nthe jogging<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Backen<\/td>\nthe baking<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Kochen<\/td>\nthe cooking<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Fahren<\/td>\nthe driving<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Putzen<\/td>\nthe cleaning<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Rauchen<\/td>\nthe smoking<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Waschen<\/td>\nthe washing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

5. Adjectives used as nouns<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

All adjectives which are used as nouns are das<\/strong> words. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
German
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		English<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Sch\u00f6ne<\/td>\nthe beautiful thing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Gute<\/td>\nthe good thing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Schlechte<\/td>\nthe bad thing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Alte<\/td>\nthe old thing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Junge<\/td>\nthe young thing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Neue<\/td>\nthe new thing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

6. Nouns with the Prefix Ge-<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Most nouns which start with Ge- are das<\/strong> words. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
German
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		English<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Geschenk<\/td>\npresent<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Gedicht<\/td>\npoem<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Ger\u00e4t<\/td>\ngadget<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Gebet<\/td>\nprayer<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
das Geb\u00e4ude<\/td>\nbuilding<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

There are however few exceptions. For example: die Geburt – birth, die Geduld – patience etc<\/p>\n

7. Certain Endings<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Nouns that end in the following are always das nouns:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • chen<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • lein<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    German
    \n<\/strong><\/td>\n    		English<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    das M\u00e4dchen<\/td>\ngirl<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    das M\u00e4rchen<\/td>\nfairy tale<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    das Eichh\u00f6rnchen<\/td>\nsquirrel<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    das Meerschweinchen<\/td>\nguinea pig<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    das Fr\u00e4ulein<\/td>\nlady<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    das M\u00e4nnlein<\/td>\nlittle man<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    The nouns that end in the following are also usually das nouns:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • o<\/strong><\/li>\n
    • nis<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Here are some examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
      German
      \n<\/strong><\/td>\n      		English<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      das Kino<\/td>\ncinema<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      das Auto<\/td>\ncar<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      das Klo<\/td>\nloo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      das Foto<\/td>\nphoto<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      das Zeugnis<\/td>\ncertificate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      das Ergebnis<\/td>\nresult<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      das Geheimnis<\/td>\nsecret<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
      das Hindernis<\/td>\nbarrier<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      German Neutral Nouns We all know how difficult it is to guess the right gender if it comes to German nouns. The bad news is: There is no official rule for when to use der, die and das. The good news is: There are guidelines which will make it easier to choose between them. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6100"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6100"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15670,"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6100\/revisions\/15670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jabbalab.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}