A woman in a floral dress overlooks a natural landscape

Activities: "How to identify grammatical gender in German?"

By: Ulrike Carlson
Associated Articles

These activities are part of our German Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

Activity 1: What’s the article?

Fill in the blanks with the correct definite articles. Look at the endings or meanings of the nouns to help you determine the gender of the noun.

  • Bär

    A cartoon of a bear.

  • Mannschaft

    A cartoon of four girls in soccer gear on a soccer field.

  • Touristin und Tourist

    A cartoon of two tourists in matching outfits standing in front of a world map.

  • Tiger

    A drawing of a tiger.

  • Dollar

    A drawing of a stack of $100 bills.

  • Ärztin

    A drawing of a female doctor.

  • Januar

    A drawing of a calendar showing the month January.

  • Katze

    A cartoon of a gray cat.

  • Spanisch

    A picture of a sign reading "se habla espanol" in Spanish.

  • Brötchen

    A photo of a loaf of bread.

Activity 2: Guess the gender of the compound!

Do long German words scare you? Let’s decipher them starting with their gender. In this exercise, you will learn to predict the gender of long compound nouns by looking at their very last word. The shape or meaning of the last noun in every compound can help you find the correct gender. Fill in the blanks with the definite articles der, die, or das.

  • The national football team arrived today.

    Heute ist Fußballnationalmannschaft angekommen.

  • The morning bread-roll doesn’t taste good.

    Frühstücksbrötchen schmeckt mir nicht.

  • Every year, the (female) package-tourist travels to Bali.

    Jedes Jahr fliegt Pauschaltouristin nach Bali.

    Note:
    A "package-tourist" is a person going on an organized tour.

  • In Germany, the Road Traffic Act also applies to parking lots.

    In Deutschland gilt Straßenverkehrsordnung auch auf Parkplätzen.

  • The tiny kitchen table is so cute!

    Küchentischlein ist aber niedlich!

  • The dog-house is too small.

    Hundehütte ist zu klein.

  • The table-fan in the living room doesn’t work anymore.

    Wohnzimmertischventilator geht nicht mehr.

  • The payment of the third-party insurance is due.

    Haftpflichtversicherung muss bezahlt werden.

  • Unfortunately, the mailbox key is lost.

    Leider ist Briefkastenschlüssel weg.

  • The summer sale is a shopping highlight in Germany.

    Sommerschlussverkauf ist ein Shopping-Highlight in Deutschland.

  • Where has the chocolate with nuts gone?

    Wo ist Nussschokolade hin?

  • The (female) controller of the helicopter-emergency landing-field for the fire department has a day off today.

    Feuerwehrrettungshubschraubernotlandeplatzaufseherin hat heute frei!

  • Where is the Danube Steamboat Shipping Company?

    Wo ist Donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft?

  • The daughter of the rice cake manufacturer is absolutely beautiful.

    Reiswaffelfabrikantentochter ist total hübsch.

  • The motorcycle driving instructor failed his own driving exam twice.

    Motorradfahrlehrer ist selbst zweimal durch die Prüfung gefallen.

  • The documentary film director received a high honorarium.

    Dokumentarfilmregisseur bekam eine hohes Honorar.

  • Mass tourism has a negative impact on the Earth.

    Massentourismus schadet der Erde.

  • Does the (female) professor of economics not come today?

    Kommt Wirtschaftswissenschaftsprofessorin heute nicht?

  • The best-before date has expired.

    Mindesthaltbarkeitsdatum ist abgelaufen.

  • My son’s remote control toy broke yesterday.

    Gestern ist Spielzeugfernbedienung meines Sohnes kaputt gegangen.

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