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WORD GRAMMAR
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Verb
- Conjugation in indicative
- Person and number
- Tenses
- Voice
- Mood
- Verb categories
- Valency
- Semantic categories of verbs
- Finite / non-finite verb forms
- Noun
- Adjective
- Adverb
- Article
- Pronoun
- Preposition
- Conjunction
- Particle
- Interjection
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Verb
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SENTENCE GRAMMAR
- Clause types
- Complex clauses
- Constituents of a sentence
- Sentence structure
- Word order in a sentence
- Negation
Form and gender
DA2
In some cases, it is possible to recognize the gender of a noun by its form. This mainly involves the following endings.
|
masculine der
|
||
| endings | Examples | |
| -ich | Teppich |
German words |
| -ig | Honig | |
| -ling | Zwilling | |
| -s | Schnaps | |
| -and | Doktorand |
foreign words
|
| -ant | Emigrant | |
| -är (only for a person) | Millionär | |
| -ast | Gymnasiast | |
| -eur/-ör | Friseur | |
| -end | Promovend | |
| -ent | Student | |
| -ier (only for a person) | Offizier | |
| -iker | Fanatiker | |
| -ismus | Optimismus | |
| -ist | Jurist | |
| -or | Direktor | |
|
feminine die
|
||
| endings | Examples | |
| -ei | Schweinerei |
German words |
| -in | Studentin | |
| -heit | Menschheit | |
| -keit | Höflichkeit | |
| -schaft | Freundschaft | |
| -ung | Bildung | |
| -a | Kamera |
foreign words
|
| -ade | Marmelade | |
| -age | Garage | |
| -anz | Eleganz | |
| -ette | Toilette | |
| -euse | Fritteuse | |
| -ie | Phantasie | |
| -enz | Tendenz | |
| -ik | Musik | |
| -ine | Maschine | |
| -ation | Argumentation | |
| -ität | Qualität | |
| -itis | Bronchitis | |
| -ive | Offensive | |
| -ose | Neurose | |
| -sis/-se | Basis / Analyse | |
| -ur | Natur | |
| -üre | Broschüre | |
|
neuter das
|
||
| endings | Examples | |
| -chen | Mädchen |
German words |
| -lein | Schifflein | |
| -tum | Eigentum | |
| -ett | Balett |
foreign words
|
| -um/-ium | Datum / Aquarium | |
| -ma | Thema | |
| -ment | Argument | |
Besides the aforementioned endings, there are three rules that can help identify the gender of a noun :
1. The gender of compound (or prefixed) nouns is always determined by the gender of the last noun.
| Examples | ||||
| Hausfrau | das Haus | die Frau | die Hausfrau | |
| Umweltschutzgesetz | die Umwelt | der Schutz | das Gesetz | das Umweltschutzgesetz |
2. Nominalized infinitives are always of neuter gender : das Rauchen, das Kommen und Gehen, das Sein
3. All geographical names that are used without an article are of neuter gender.
| Examples | |
| Griechenland | das antike Griechenland |
| Zürich | das historische Zürich |
| Europa | Europa, es hat in seiner Geschichte viele Kriege gesehen. |