Three Noun Genders
Every noun has one of three genders: masculine, feminine or neuter. The full article shows it: deen Dësch (masculine), déi Fra (feminine), dat Kand (neuter).
How It Works
Three genders, shown by the article. The full article (the stressed form, which also means that) shows the gender clearly:
- masculine: deen Dësch (table), short form den Dësch
- feminine: déi Fra (woman), short form d'Fra
- neuter: dat Kand (child), short form d'Kand
The short forms den and d' are the everyday articles. Because feminine and neuter both use d', the short form alone does not always tell you the gender. See den and d'.
Grammatical gender is not always natural gender. Meedchen (girl) is neuter, and women and girls called by their first name are usually neuter too: d'Anna. They are replaced by the neuter pronoun hatt. See hatt.
What gender changes:
- the article: en Dësch, eng Fra, e Kand
- the adjective: e grousst Haus, eng kleng Wunneng
- the pronoun: masculine things are hien, feminine si, neuter et
Plurals have no gender. All plurals use d' and déi: d'Dëscher, d'Fraen, d'Kanner. The gender of a noun can differ from German or French, so check it in the LOD. Next, see how gender works with the three cases.
Examples (6)
- Den Dësch ass grouss.
The table is big.
Dësch is masculine, so it takes den.
- D'Fra liest e Buch.
The woman is reading a book.
Fra is feminine, and Buch is neuter, so it takes en, written e before B.
- D'Kand schléift.
The child is sleeping.
Kand is neuter. Its full article is dat.
- D'Meedchen ass midd, hatt schléift.
The girl is tired; she is sleeping.
Meedchen is neuter, so the pronoun is hatt.
- Ech hunn e grousst Haus an eng kleng Wunneng.
I have a big house and a small flat.
The neuter Haus gives grousst, and the feminine Wunneng takes eng.
- Ech hunn en neien Auto, hien ass rout.
I have a new car; it is red.
Auto is masculine, so the pronoun for it is hien.
Common Mistakes
Using the masculine article with a feminine noun.
De Fra ass midd.D'Fra ass midd.Fra is feminine, so it takes d', not den or de.
Choosing the pronoun by natural gender.
D'Meedchen ass midd, si schléift.D'Meedchen ass midd, hatt schléift.Meedchen is a neuter noun, so it is replaced by hatt.
Calling a masculine thing et, as English uses it.
Ech hunn en neien Auto, et ass rout.Ech hunn en neien Auto, hien ass rout.Things take the pronoun of their gender. Auto is masculine, so it is hien.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Before Three Noun Genders, learn Nouns Are Capitalized.
Related Patterns
- denThe Masculine Article Den
The masculine article.
Level 1 - d'The Short Article D'
The short article for feminine, neuter and plural nouns.
Level 1 - en / engIndefinite Article: En and Eng
See how the indefinite article changes with gender.
Level 1 - hattHatt: She for Women and Girls by Name
Learn why girls and women called by name take a neuter pronoun.
Level 1 - Three Cases
See how gender and case work together in articles.
Level 1 - Adjective Endings: Neuter -t
Gender also changes adjective endings.
Level 2
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
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