What are nouns?
Nouns are words used to name living creatures, objects,abstract qualities or concepts:
|
Mann
|
man
|
Rock
|
skirt
|
|
Schönheit
|
beauty
|
Entwicklung
|
development |
German nouns – three genders
In German, all nouns are classedas having one of three genders: masculine, feminine orneuter and are writtenwith an initialcapital letter. In dictionaries, the gender is usuallyindicated with m formasculine nouns, f for femininenouns and nt for neuter nouns.
Working out the gender
Often there seems to be no obvious relationship between a noun and its gender in German: Rock ‘skirt’ for instanceis masculine, Hose ‘trousers’ is feminine and Kleid ‘dress’ is neuter.
However, there are two main ways that can help you to work out the gender:
• certain endingsindicate the gender
• some groupsof nouns, usuallylinked by meaning,tend to be masculine or feminineor neuter.
Endings indicating the gender
Masculine endings
The followingendings usually indicatethat the noun is masculine:
|
–ant
|
der Konsonant
|
consonant
|
|
-ast
|
der Palast
|
palace
|
|
-ich
|
der Teppich
|
carpet
|
|
-ig
|
der Honig
|
honey
|
|
-ling
|
der Liebling
|
darling
|
|
-or
|
der Motor
|
engine
|
|
-us
|
der Materialismus
|
materialism
|
An exception is das Labor ‘laboratory’.
Feminine endings
The followingendings tend to belong to feminine nouns:
Changes affectingnouns
Ein Verwandter von mir wohnt in Bonn. (nom., masc.)
|
-a
|
die Pizza
|
pizza
|
|
-anz
|
die Toleranz
|
tolerance
|
|
-ei
|
die Wäscherei
|
laundry
|
|
-enz
|
die Intelligenz
|
intelligence
|
|
-heit
|
die Mehrheit
|
majority
|
|
-ie
|
die Astrologie
|
astrology
|
|
-ik
|
die Musik
|
music
|
|
-ion
|
die Kommunikation
|
communication
|
|
-keit
|
die Müdigkeit
|
tiredness
|
|
-tät
|
die Kreativität
|
creativity
|
|
-schaft
|
die Erbschaft
|
inheritance
|
|
-ung
|
die Bedeutung
|
meaning, importance
|
|
-ur
|
die Frisur
|
hairstyle
|
Some exceptions are: das Sofa ‘sofa’, das Genie ‘genius’, das Abitur ‘A levels’.
Note that about 90 per cent of nouns ending in -e arealso feminine:
|
die Anzeige
|
advert
|
die Karriere
|
career
|
|
die Frage
|
question
|
die Schokolade
|
chocolate
|
Exceptions include: das Auge ‘eye’, das Interesse ‘interest’, der Käse ‘cheese’, der Name ‘name’, and all male persons and animals endings in -e: der Junge ‘boy’, der Löwe ‘lion’ etc.
Neuter endings
The followingendings signal that a noun is neuter:
|
-chen
|
das Märchen
|
fairy tale
|
|
-il
|
das Ventil
|
valve
|
|
-lein
|
das Männlein
|
little man
|
|
-ma
|
das Drama
|
drama
|
|
-ment
|
das Instrument
|
instrument
|
|
-o
|
das Auto
|
car
|
|
-um
|
das Zentrum
|
centre
|
Some exceptions are: die Firma ‘company’, derReichtum ‘wealth’
Compound nouns
The last noun defines the gender
Compound nouns usuallyconsist of two or more nouns. The gender is defined by the last noun:
der Computer+ das Spiel ® das Computerspiel (computer game)
der Bauch + der Tanz + die Lehrerin ® die Bauchtanzlehrerin (teacher of belly dancing)
Adding -s
When joining noun + noun together an extra -s is often inserted to link the components and to make the pronunciation easier. This usually happenswhen the first noun ends in -heit, -ing, -ion, -keit, -ling, -schaft,
-tät or-ung:
der Liebling + die Band ® die Lieblingsband (favourite band)
die Mehrheit+ der Beschluss ® der Mehrheitsbeschluss (majority decision)
Nouns in use
Determiners and nouns
When used in sentences, nouns normally appear with determiners such as der, die, das etc. Dependingon the function of the noun within the sentence the determiners can change.
For example, the definite articles der, die, das and die for plural nouns are used when the noun is the subjectof a sentence (nominativecase). These articleschange to dem, der, dem, den if the noun is the indirect object (dative case).
Changes affectingnouns
Note that nouns themselves normally change only (other than their plural forms) in the followinginstances:
• in the genitive case, wheremasculine and neuternouns add -(e)s and
• in the dative plural where -n is usually added. For more information see Units 3 and 4.
However, there are two groups of nouns whose endingsdo change: the so-called weak nouns and adjectival nouns.
Weak nouns
About 10 per cent of masculine nouns, usually referring to male people or animals, add -(e)n to all forms apart from the nominative singular.
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
|
Nominative
Accusative
Dative
Genitive
|
der Junge
den Junge-n
dem Junge-n
des
Junge-n
|
die Junge-n
die Junge-n
den Junge-n
der Junge-n
|
DerJunge spielt mit seinem Gameboy. (nom., sing.)
Siehst du den Jungen dort? (acc., sing.)
Er kauft dem Jungen eine FlascheWasser. (dat., sing.)
Other examplesinclude: Architekt ‘malearchitect’, Student ‘malestudent’, Herr ‘Mr’, ‘gentleman’, Tourist ‘maletourist’, Mensch ‘humanbeing’, Name ‘name’.
Note that Herr adds -n in the singular, and -en in the plural: Kennst du Herrn Becker‘Do you know Mr Becker?’Meine Damen und Herren! ‘Ladies and gentlemen!’.
Adjectival nouns
Adjectival nouns are derived from adjectives:
|
krank
|
®
|
ein Kranker, eine Kranke
|
ill, sick person
|
|
reich
|
ein Reicher, eine Reiche
|
rich person
|
|
| verwandt |
ein Verwandter, eine Verwandte
|
relative
|
Adjectives used as nouns follow the pattern of adjectival endings.As an example, here are all forms of Verwandte/r ‘relative’ with the indefinite article:
|
Singular (masc.)
|
Singular (fem.)
|
Plural
|
|
|
Nominative
Accusative
Dative
Genitive
|
ein Verwandter
einen Verwandten einem Verwandten eines Verwandten |
eine Verwandte
eine Verwandte einer Verwandten einer Verwandten |
-Verwandte
-Verwandte -Verwandten
-Verwandter |
Ein Verwandter von mir wohnt in Bonn. (nom., masc.)
One of my relatives lives in Bonn.
Eine Verwandte von Petra arbeitet bei Sony. (nom., fem.)
One of Petra’s relatives works for Sony.
Other nounsbelonging to this group include
|
Angestellte/r
|
employee
|
Arbeitslose/r
|
unemployed person
|
|
Erwachsene/r
|
adult
|
Deutsche/r
|
German person
|
|
Jugendliche/r
|
young person
|