When learning German nouns, it is always useful to treat their articles as a part of the word: "das Wasser", "der Hund", "die Frau" instead of Wasser, Hund, Frau etc. This way you can learn the gender as part of the word. Using the wrong gender with a noun is one of the most common mistakes people make who speak German as a foreign language. And despite the fact that it doesn＇t always mean you won＇t be understood properly, it is one of those mistakes that can be irritating for a German speaker to listen to.

Here are a few helpful gender rules:

1) nouns are often masculine (definite article: der) when
- ending in "-ismus" (Journalismus, Kommunismus etc.)
- ending in "-ner" (Schaffner, Rentner etc.)
- most of the days, months and seasons (Sommer, Winter, Montag, Juli etc.)

Listen to examples spoken below.

2) nouns are often feminine (definite article: die) when
- ending in the suffixes "-heit", "-keit", "-tät", "-ung" and "-schaft" (Freiheit, Fröhlichkeit, Universität, Überraschung and Freundschaft)
- ending in "-ie" (Drogerie, Ironie etc.)
- ending in "-ik" (Grammatik, Dramatik etc.)
- foreign nouns ending in "-ade", "-age", "-anz", "-enz", "-ette", "-ine", "-ion" and "-tur" (Limonade, Blamage, Allianz, Frequenz, Zigarette, Limousine, Union, Partitur etc.)
- words ending in "-nerin" (Rentnerin, Schaffnerin)
- Cardinal numbers: die Eins, die Drei


3) nouns are always neuter (definite article: das)
- with the suffix "-chen" or "-lein" (Mädchchen, Fräulein etc.)
- with the suffix "-tum" or "-um" (das Christentum, das Zentrum)
- verbs used as nouns (das Essen, das Schlafen etc.)
- names of colours used as nouns (das Blau, das Rot etc.)


Note: These are only a few gender rules and there are always exceptions!
In compound nouns the last word determines the gender of the noun Example: die Geburt and der Tag = der Geburtstag