Re: Identifying Gender in German

From: LEE Sau Dan (danlee_at_informatik.uni-freiburg.de)
Date: 06/28/04 

Date: 28 Jun 2004 11:59:32 +0200

>>>>> "Ruud" == Ruud Harmsen <realemailseesite01@rudhar.com> writes:

>> Certain suffixes require a specific gender, e.g. -ung -> fem
>> (cognate to Engl. -ing)

    Ruud> Word in -e are often feminine, but not always: das Ende, der
    Ruud> Name.

When a masculine noun ends in -e, then it is usually of the so called
N-deklination. These words form the other cases different than other
masculine nouns. Fortunately, there only a few dozen such words that
are in common use. You have to memorize them. Pick a German textbook
and look up "N-deklination". You'll find a (not complete) list of
such words. Some very common ones are:

        der Name
        der Mensch
        der Affe, der Hase, der Bär, der Elefant
        der Biologe/Psychologe/...
        der Polizist/Pianist/... (-ist)
        der Student/... (-ent)

    Ruud> I think so too. My experience is that it is most effective
    Ruud> to listen and read a lot, preferrably in a submersion
    Ruud> situation, so you'll develop a feeling for what sounds right
    Ruud> and what doesn't.

Yeah! It cannot be explained by a few simple rules. But it isn't
completely random. There are some complicated rules behind the scene.
A submersion method is the best for learning such rules. i.e. there
is no short-cut! 

-- 
Lee Sau Dan                     李守敦                          ~{@nJX6X~}
E-mail: danlee@informatik.uni-freiburg.de
Home page: http://www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~danlee