Der, die, das flashcards for German noun gender

German noun gender has no single rule, so the reliable way to learn der, die and das is to learn every noun with its article: der Tisch, never just Tisch. Lexica makes flashcards for language learners that work this way. Every German noun card has its article on the front, with IPA, a translation and an example sentence.

Why you learn every noun with der, die or das

German has three genders, and the article is where you see them: der for masculine, die for feminine and das for neuter. The meaning of a word rarely tells you which one it takes. A table is der Tisch, a lamp is die Lampe and a window is das Fenster, and nothing about the objects explains why. Even words for people don't always match: das Mädchen, the girl, is neuter.

The plural hides the gender too. In the nominative plural every noun takes die, whatever its gender, so die Tische doesn't tell you that a table is masculine. That's why the form worth learning is the singular with its article, said together as one word.

Rules of thumb for German noun gender

Some endings and a few groups of words point to the gender often enough to be worth knowing. Use them to check a guess, not to replace the article: most of them have exceptions you'll meet early on.

The diminutive endings even override the word they're made from: die Blume is feminine, but a small flower is das Blümchen.

Compound nouns take the gender of the last word

German makes long nouns by joining short ones, and the last part decides the article. Das Haus and die Tür make die Haustür, the front door. Die Hand and der Schuh make der Handschuh, the glove.

So every short noun you learn with its article also gives you the long words built on it. Meet a compound you don't know, and the last noun inside it tells you the article.

How Lexica builds German cards

Type a topic such as “In the kitchen”, paste a passage or a word list, and Lexica suggests German words for your level, already with their articles. Pick the ones you want and each becomes a card: the noun with der, die or das on the front, its IPA, a short translation and an example sentence that uses only words at or below your level.

When the plural is irregular or hard to guess, the front shows it too, as in der Topf / die Töpfe. Already have a list from class? Paste it one word per line, with or without articles, and Lexica adds der, die or das where it's missing. The page on word lists has the details.

Audio comes afterwards. Open a card and tap Generate audio next to the word, and a natural voice reads the front as it's written, article included: you hear “das Messer”, not just “Messer”. Each clip is one AI action, and there's more on the page about IPA and audio. The free plan includes 2 decks, 100 cards, 20 AI actions a day (a card or an audio clip each), unlimited reviews.

Review the article, not just the meaning

Before you show the answer, say the whole front out loud: “das Mädchen”, not “Mädchen”. Then rate the article as well as the meaning. If you knew it means girl but said die, rate it Again. The right meaning with the wrong article is still a miss, and rating it as one keeps the card coming back until the article sticks.

Again brings the card back later in the same session. Hard is for a right answer you only reached by trying der, die and das in your head; Good and Easy are for answers that came at once. FSRS-6 spaced repetition schedules every card from your ratings, so the nouns whose gender you keep missing come back more often than the ones you know. On the web, Space shows the answer and the keys 1 to 4 rate it.