-schaft
rule100% in Yupo (37/37)German article rules
Der, die or das? You don’t have to memorize every word on its own. The rules on this page predict the article of most German nouns. The figure next to each rule shows how often it holds in Yupo’s 3,079-word list.
Published: · Last updated: · By Yupo · How were the rates calculated?
Short answer
- die: nouns ending in -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ion, -tät (correct for 385 of 385 words in Yupo).
- das: nouns ending in -chen, -ment, -um (correct for 36 of 36 words in Yupo).
- der: nouns ending in -ling, -ich, -ismus (correct for 13 of 13 words in Yupo).
- Compound nouns: the last part almost always decides the article (der Salat → der Obstsalat).
- Plural: in the nominative, every plural noun takes die.
- No rule? Learn the word with its article and its color: der is blue, die is red, das is green.
1. Never learn a noun without its article
Every German noun has an article: der (masculine), die (feminine) or das (neuter). English has only “the”, so the most common mistake is learning the bare noun. Not “Tisch” but der Tisch; not “Tür” but die Tür. That’s why every article has a color in Yupo: der is blue, die is red, das is green. Picturing the word in its color makes the article easier to recall.
Knowing the article is about more than “der, die, das”. In the accusative, der becomes den; in the dative, der and das become dem, and die becomes der. A word learned with the wrong article trips you up every time you build a sentence.
2. Suffixes that take die
More than half of the words in Yupo take die, and most of the reliable rules are in this group. If you see -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ion or -ung, you can safely say die.
-heit
rule100% in Yupo (17/17)-keit
rule100% in Yupo (23/23)-erin
rulefemale forms of people and jobs100% in Yupo (42/42)-ung
rule100% in Yupo (227/227)-ion
rule100% in Yupo (67/67)-tät
rule100% in Yupo (14/14)-ade
rule100% in Yupo (11/11)-enz
rule100% in Yupo (10/10)-anz
rule100% in Yupo (7/7)-ine
rule100% in Yupo (21/21)-ur
rule100% in Yupo (16/16)-ei
rule100% in Yupo (11/11)-ie
rule98% in Yupo (53/54)Exceptions: der Sellerie
-e
rule96% in Yupo (583/607)Exceptions: der Abgeordnete, der Baumriese, der Bekannte, das Erbe, der Falke and 19 more
-ik
rule92% in Yupo (23/25)Exceptions: das Mosaik, der Schaschlik
-ette
tendency83% in Yupo (10/12)Exceptions: das Baguette, das Raclette
-age
rule3. Suffixes that take das
Fewer words take das, but the diminutive suffixes and Latin-based endings like -um and -ment are very reliable.
-chen
rulediminutive100% in Yupo (11/11)-ment
rule100% in Yupo (7/7)-ett
rule100% in Yupo (6/6)-um
rule100% in Yupo (18/18)-lein
rulediminutivedas Büchlein, das Tischlein, das Männlein
4. Suffixes that take der
For der, the patterns are less reliable: -er, the most common one, is only a tendency. Still, with words ending in -ling, -ismus and -ich you can say der with confidence.
-ling
rule100% in Yupo (5/5)-or
rule92% in Yupo (12/13)Exceptions: das Dekor
-er
tendency80% in Yupo (179/221)Exceptions: das Abenteuer, das Assessment-Center, das Atelier, die Auster, das Backpulver and 37 more
-ismus
rule-eur
rule-ich
rule-ig
ruleExceptions: das Reisig
5. Compound nouns: the last part wins
German builds new words by joining words together. The article then almost always comes from the last part; the article of the first part doesn’t matter. For example, das Obst + der Salat = der Obstsalat. Rare exceptions include der Mittwoch (from die Woche). In Yupo’s list, 384 words get their article from this rule.
- das Horn → das AlphornAlphorn
- die Wurst → die BratwurstBratwurst
- die Arbeit → die FacharbeitTerm paper
- das Buch → das HandbuchManual
- das Buch → das DrehbuchScreenplay
- das Ticket → das BahnticketTrain ticket
6. Plural nouns take die in the nominative
In the nominative, every plural noun takes die, whatever its gender: der Tisch → die Tische, das Haus → die Häuser. Some words are only used in the plural in German, or mostly said in the plural. Don’t mistake them for feminine singular nouns:
dieAntipastiAntipastidieCannelloniCannellonidieElternParentsdieFarfalleFarfalledieFlitterwochenHoneymoondieFrittenFriesdieFusilliFusillidieGeschwisterSiblingsdieGezeitenTidesdieGnocchiGnocchidieGroßelternGrandparentsdieHaferflockenOatmealdieHeizkostenHeating costsdieMehrlingeMultiple-birth childrendieNebenkostenAdditional costsdiePennePennediePilzsporenFungal sporesdiePommesFrench friesdieRamenRamendieRavioliRaviolidieRigatoniRigatonidieSpaghettiSpaghettidieTagliatelleTagliatelledieTapasTapasdieTortelliniTortellini
7. Hints from meaning groups
When a suffix doesn’t help, the meaning can. Some groups that grammar books commonly list:
- der: days, months and seasons (der Montag, der Mai, der Sommer), compass points (der Norden), most weather words (der Regen, der Schnee).
- die: most trees and flowers (die Eiche, die Rose), numbers (die Eins, die Zehn).
- das: verbs used as nouns (das Essen, das Leben), colors as nouns (das Rot), most metals (das Gold, das Silber).
These groups have exceptions too (das Gewitter, der Ahorn). When in doubt, check the word’s page.
Try the rules: 10 words
1 / 10Make the rules stick with games
Yupo repeats the articles in 5-minute daily games, and the words you get wrong go into their own list. Start for free.
