In this post I would like to continue with my previous post in which I began to discuss how you can detect German masculine nouns. Today I would like to focus on those German masculine nouns that are not as predictable as the ones I discussed last time.
Beside male humans, male occupations, and male animals the following nouns are usually masculine in German.
a) Nouns that denote animal species
A lot of nouns that refer to animals species are masculine in German.
| der Adler – eagleder Fisch – fishder Hirsch – stag
der Pinguin – penguin
der Bär – bear
der Habicht – hawk
der hund – dog
der Rabe – raven |
der Affe – monkeyder Hai – sharkder Iltis – fitch
der Schmetterling – butterfly
der Fasan – pheasant
der Hase – hare
der Marder – marten
der Vogel – bird |
b) Nouns that denote minerals and stones
Names for minerrals and stones are usually masculine.
| der Basalt – basaltder Feldspat – feldsparder Lehm – clay
der Sand – sand
der Bernstein – amber
der Granit – granite
der Malachit – malachite
der Schiefer – slate |
der Beton – cementder Kalk – chalk; limeder Quarz – quartz
der Stein – stone
der Diamant- diamond
der Kies – gravel
der Rubin – ruby
der Ton – clay; fictile- |
Exceptions to that rule are: die Kreide – cretaceous; chalk; crayon / das Bergkristall – crystallized quartz / die Kohle – coal / die Koralle – coral
c) Names for seasons of the year, months, days of the week, daytimes, and points of the compass
Except for some exceptions all nouns that belong to the listed categories above are masculine in German.
| der Frühling – springder Sommer – summerder Herbst – fall; autumn
der Winter – winter
der Januar – January
der Februar – February
der März – March
der Juni – June
der Juli – July
der August – August
der September – September
der Oktober – October
der November – November
der Dezember – December
der Montag – Monday
der Dienstag – Tuesday |
der Mittwoch – Wednesdayder Donnerstag – Thursdayder Freitag – Friday
der Sonnabend/Samstag – Saturday
der Sonntag – Sunday
der Morgen – morning
der Vormittag – forenoon
der Mittag – noon; midday
der Nachmittag – afternoon
der Abend – evening
der Süden – south
der Osten – east
der Westen – west
der Norden – north
der Monat – month
der Tag – day |
Exceptions are: die Jahreszeit – season (of the year) / das Jahr – year / das Frühjahr – spring / die Woche – week / die Nacht – night / die Mitternacht – midnight / die Tageszeit – daytime / die Himmelsrichtung – point of the compass
To be continued…
Comments:
Deja:
Just wanted to let You know: “Bergkristall” is also masculine, so it’s “der Bergkristall”, not “das Bergkristall”.
Best regards
Deja
Sandra:
@Deja You are right, “Bergkristall” can also be masculine. Der Bergkristall = one pice; das Bergkristall = substance.
Kind regards.
Sandra