In my two last posts I discussed that young living beings, continents, and most country and city names are neuter in German. Now I would like to continue with other rules that make German nouns neuter.<\/p>\n
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1. Diminutives<\/strong><\/p>\n Common German diminutives are the endings \u201c\u2013chen\u201d and \u201c\u2013lein\u201d. When you add these endings to nouns, regardless of their actual grammatical gender, all these nouns automatically become neuter.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n a) The ending -chen<\/strong><\/p>\n Usually, you can belittle or trivialize any German noun with the affix \u2013 chen.<\/p>\n die Blume \u2013 flower => das Bl\u00fcmchen \u2013 floret; little flower<\/p>\n der Hase \u2013 hare => das H\u00e4schen \u2013 bunny<\/p>\n das Haus \u2013 house => das H\u00e4uschen \u2013 little\/small house<\/p>\n die Nase \u2013 nose => das N\u00e4schen \u2013 little nose<\/p>\n der Mann \u2013 man => das M\u00e4nnchen \u2013 male species; little man<\/p>\n das Problem \u2013 problem => das Problemchen \u2013 little problem<\/p>\n der Schatz \u2013 treasure, sweetheart => das Sch\u00e4tzchen \u2013 little treasure; sweetie<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are also German words that only exist with the ending \u2013chen:<\/p>\n das M\u00e4dchen \u2013 girl<\/p>\n das M\u00e4rchen \u2013 fairy tale<\/p>\n <\/p>\n b) The ending \u2013lein<\/strong><\/p>\n The ending \u2013lein has the same function as \u2013chen and you can generally use it instead of the endig \u2013chen.<\/p>\n das Bl\u00fcmlein \u2013 floret; little flower<\/p>\n der H\u00e4slein –\u00a0 bunny<\/p>\n das N\u00e4slein \u2013 little nose<\/p>\n das M\u00e4nnlein \u2013 little man<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But there are also some forms, which would sound quite unnatural, although they are grammatical possible. For example, the German word \u201cBach\u201d (brook; creek) would be rather minimized with the affix \u2013lein than \u2013chen, since the basic word already contains a ch-sound.<\/p>\n der Bach \u2013 creek, brook => das B\u00e4chlein \u2013 brooklet<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Further, I prefer the diminutive forms \u201cProblemchen\u201d (little problem) and \u201cSch\u00e4tzchen\u201d (sweetie) than \u201cProblemlein\u201d and \u201cSch\u00e4tzelein\u201d, although the latter are also possible.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 2. Nouns with the prefix Ge-<\/strong><\/p>\n Nouns that contain the prefix Ge- are usually neuter in German.<\/p>\n das Geb\u00e4ude \u2013 building<\/p>\n das Gebirge \u2013 mountains<\/p>\n das Gem\u00e4lde \u2013 painting<\/p>\n das Gerede \u2013 gossip; talk<\/p>\n das Gewerbe \u2013 trade; industry<\/p>\n das Gehalt \u2013 salary; wage<\/p>\n das Ger\u00e4usch \u2013 noise; sound<\/p>\n das Gespr\u00e4ch \u2013 conversation<\/p>\n das Getr\u00e4nk \u2013 drink; beverage<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Exceptions are:<\/strong><\/p>\n der Geruch \u2013 smell; scent<\/p>\n der Geschmack \u2013 taste; flavor<\/p>\n die Geduld \u2013 patience<\/p>\n die Gefahr \u2013 danger<\/p>\n die Geburt \u2013 birth<\/p>\n die Geschichte \u2013 story; history<\/p>\n der Gedanke \u2013 thought<\/p>\n der Gewinn \u2013 profit<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 3. Nominalized verbs and adjectives<\/strong><\/p>\n In German you can make nouns out of verbs and adjectives. This is called nominalization (Substantivierung).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n a) Verbs<\/strong><\/p>\n The nominalization of verbs is quite easy in German. All you have to do is to take the uninflected form of a verb and put the neuter article \u201cdas\u201d before the noun.<\/p>\n das Lesen (lesen) \u2013 the reading (to read)<\/p>\n das Arbeiten (arbeiten) \u2013 the working (to work)<\/p>\n das B\u00fcgeln (b\u00fcgeln) \u2013 the ironing (to iron)<\/p>\n das Putzen (putzen) \u2013 the cleaning (to clean)<\/p>\n das Kochen (kochen) \u2013 the cooking (to cook)<\/p>\n das Spielem (spielen) \u2013 the playing (to play)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n b) Adjectives<\/strong><\/p>\n The nominalization of adjectives is a bit trickier in German, but still very simply. You take any uninflected form of an adjective, put the neuter article before the noun and add the ending \u2013e to make a noun of the adjective. Adjectives that already have the ending \u2013e do not need an additional \u2013e.<\/p>\n das Gute<\/strong> (gut) \u2013 the good thing (good)<\/p>\n das Gro\u00dfe<\/strong> (gro\u00df) \u2013 the big thing (big)<\/p>\n das Alte <\/strong>(alt) \u2013 the old thing (old)<\/p>\n das Neue<\/strong> (neu) \u2013 the new thing (new)<\/p>\n das Sch\u00f6ne<\/strong> (sch\u00f6n) \u2013 the beautiful thing (beautiful)<\/p>\n das Schlechte<\/strong> (schlecht) \u2013 the bad thing (bad)<\/p>\n das B\u00f6se (b\u00f6se) \u2013 the evil thing (evil)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In my two last posts I discussed that young living beings, continents, and most country and city names are neuter in German. Now I would like to continue with other rules that make German nouns neuter. 1. Diminutives Common German diminutives are the endings \u201c\u2013chen\u201d and \u201c\u2013lein\u201d. When you add these endings to nouns…<\/p>\n