German Articles Finder – der, die or das? Chart and Practice

Ending	How reliable	Examples	Exceptions
der
-ismus	almost always	der Tourismus, der Realismus	none common
-ling	almost always	der Frühling, der Lehrling, der Schmetterling	none common
-ist	usually (about nine in ten)	der Journalist, der Tourist	none common
-ant	usually (about nine in ten)	der Elefant, der Praktikant	das Restaurant, das Croissant
-ig	usually (about nine in ten)	der König, der Honig, der Essig	none common
-ich	usually (about nine in ten)	der Teppich, der Rettich	none common
-or	usually (about nine in ten)	der Motor, der Direktor	das Labor, das Tor
-us	a tendency, many exceptions	der Zirkus, der Rhythmus	das Haus, die Maus, das Virus
die
-ung	almost always	die Zeitung, die Wohnung, die Übung	der Sprung, der Schwung
-heit, -keit	almost always	die Freiheit, die Möglichkeit, die Gesundheit	none common
-schaft	almost always	die Freundschaft, die Wirtschaft	none common
-tion, -sion	almost always	die Nation, die Station, die Diskussion	none common
-ität, -tät	almost always	die Universität, die Qualität	none common
-enz	usually (about nine in ten)	die Konferenz, die Differenz	none common
-ie	usually (about nine in ten)	die Familie, die Energie	das Genie, der Junkie
-ik	usually (about nine in ten)	die Musik, die Grammatik	das Mosaik, der Atlantik
-ur	usually (about nine in ten)	die Kultur, die Natur	das Abitur, das Futur
-ei	usually (about nine in ten)	die Bäckerei, die Polizei, die Partei	das Ei, der Brei, der Papagei
-age	usually (about nine in ten)	die Garage, die Etage	der Page
-ette	usually (about nine in ten)	die Toilette, die Zigarette	none common
-ade	usually (about nine in ten)	die Limonade, die Fassade	none common
-ine	usually (about nine in ten)	die Maschine, die Kantine	none common
-in	a tendency, many exceptions	die Lehrerin, die Freundin	der Termin, das Benzin, das Vitamin
-e	usually (about nine in ten)	die Lampe, die Blume, die Tasche	der Name, der Käse, der Junge, das Auge, das Ende, das Interesse
-a	a tendency, many exceptions	die Pizza, die Kamera, die Villa	das Sofa, der Opa
das
-chen, -lein	almost always	das Mädchen, das Brötchen, das Fräulein	none common
-ma	usually (about nine in ten)	das Thema, das Klima, das Drama	die Firma
-ment	usually (about nine in ten)	das Dokument, das Instrument	der Zement, der Moment
-tum, -um	usually (about nine in ten)	das Museum, das Zentrum, das Datum	der Irrtum, der Reichtum
-sel, -tel	usually (about nine in ten)	das Rätsel, das Viertel	der Streusel, der Mantel

Find the article of a German noun: der, die or das

Every German noun has a gender, and the gender decides the article: der (masculine), die (feminine) or das (neuter). This German articles finder tells you which one a noun takes. Type Zeitung and you get die Zeitung; type Hoffnung, a noun that is not in the list, and the tool applies the ending rule (-ung is feminine) and says plainly that this is a likely answer, not a certain one.

There are three parts: the finder, an endings chart you can print as a one-page German articles chart, and a practice mode for der, die, das. It is made for learners from A1 upwards, teachers, and anyone who wants a quick check before writing.

How to use the German Article Finder (der, die, das)

Type a German noun in the box. You may add an article in front (der Tisch) to check your own guess.
Read the answer. A green In the word list badge means the word is in the curated list; a yellow badge means the answer comes from a rule and is only likely.
Open Endings chart to see every ending rule with examples and exceptions, then print it or download the PDF.
Open Practice, choose 10 or 20 questions and pick der, die or das for each noun.

German Article Finder (der, die, das) features

A curated list with plurals

About 351 common nouns with article, plural and English meaning, including the exceptions that trip people up: der Käse, der Moment, das Auge.

Ending rules with honest labels

Endings such as -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -tion (die) and -chen, -lein (das) are marked as almost always right; weaker ones such as -e or -in are marked as usually or only a tendency.

Compound nouns

For a word like Haustür the last part decides: die Tür, so die Haustür.

Plurals understood

Type Häuser and the tool tells you it is the plural of das Haus; the plural article is always die.

The main gender rules at a glance

Article	Typical endings	Examples	Known exceptions
die	-ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -tion, -sion, -tät, -ei, -ie, -ik, -ur	die Zeitung, die Freiheit, die Nation	der Sprung, das Ei, das Mosaik
das	-chen, -lein, -ment, -um, -ma, -sel	das Mädchen, das Dokument, das Museum	der Moment, der Zement, die Firma
der	-ling, -ismus, -ist, -ant, -ig, -ich, -or	der Frühling, der Tourismus, der Journalist	das Restaurant, das Labor

Where the rules come from, and their limits

The ending rules and their exceptions follow the standard descriptions of German gender, for example the overview in Grammatical gender in German (Wikipedia, checked 24 October 2026). That source itself says its lists are not solid rules, and the word list on this page was written for this tool rather than copied from a dictionary. To check a word you are unsure of, use a dictionary such as Duden online or Wiktionary, and learn the article together with the noun.

Meaning also helps: days, months and seasons are der; female people and animals are die; young beings and verbs used as nouns are das (see the chart tab).
About nine in ten nouns ending in -e are feminine, but they include der Name, der Käse, der Junge and das Ende.
Some words have two meanings and two genders, such as der See (lake) and die See (sea). The finder shows one; check the meaning.

German Article Finder (der, die, das) FAQ

How do I know if a German noun is der, die or das?

Look the word up, or use the ending: -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft and -tion nouns are die; -chen and -lein nouns are das; -ling and -ismus nouns are der. For other words, learn the article with the noun.

Is there a rule for der, die, das?

There are many partial rules, based on endings and meaning, and they work well for suffixes such as -ung or -chen. There is no complete rule, so a new noun should be learnt with its article.

Which gender has the most nouns?

It depends on how you count, but all three genders are common, so guessing "der" is right only about a third to a half of the time.

What is the article in the plural?

Always die: die Tische, die Frauen, die Häuser.

Can I print the German articles chart?

Yes. Open the Endings chart tab, pick A4 or US Letter and press Print chart or Download PDF.

German Article Finder: der, die or das?

Rules from the meaning