Every German noun is either masculine, feminine, or neuter. It’s easy to figure out a German noun just by looking at it, because all German nouns are capitalized. Sometimes, it’s obvious as to whether a noun is feminine, masculine or neuter. Take for example, (der Vater) father. Other times there are no logical connections between the gender of the noun and its meaning (das Mädchen) girl.

Sometimes, the endings of a noun can help you determine whether a noun is masculine, feminine, or neuter. This isn’t 100% reliable, but it may be a good place to start; especially if you have absolutely no clue about the gender of a noun. Today we’re just going to look at masculine nouns. You’ll see “der” before the noun. The “der” means “the” in English. Der is a bestimmter Artikel or a definite article.

Nouns ending in -or : Ex: (der Motor) engine

-ismus : (der Kommunismus) communism

-ling : (der Liebling) darling

-ner : (der Schaffner) conductor (as in a train conductor)

-ich : (der Teppich) carpet

-ig : (der Honig) honey

-ast : (der Palast) palace

-ant (der Konsonant) consonant

There are also groups of nouns that can help you determine whether a noun is masculine:

Dates, Months, Seasons : Ex: (der August) August

Names of Cars : (der Mercedes) Mercedes

Compass Directions : (der Süd) south

Precipitation : (der Regen) rain

Drinks : (der Schnaps) Schnaps

Occupations : (der Student) student

Nationality : (der Deutsche) German person

Once again, this grouping isn’t 100% reliable, but it can serve as a general guideline.