Der, die, ou das (parte 1)

As we know, German nouns can be

masculine,

feminine, or

neuter,

and the article used with a noun is dependent on its gender. 

You may have already been advised to memorize the definite article der, die, or das as an essential part of the noun itself, as there are few patterns that will reliably (com segurança) help you retrieve (recuperar, lembrar) the gender of the noun later on (mais tarde).

We try to help with this by always including the definite article of any new vocabulary words presented.

However, because new words are not always presented with their definite article in real life situations, it may be good to learn a few tendencies that exist for certain word endings.

Let’s start with some typically masculine endings, keeping in mind that these rules do have exceptions and that memorizing the article along with (junto com) each individual noun will always be a better idea.

Often, words ending with

-er,

-or,

-en,

-ling,

-smus,

-ig,

-eig, 

-ant, or

-eich

are masculine and require the definite article der.

Der Teig hat doch eine ganze Stunde gebraucht, um fertig zu werden.

The batter did indeed take a whole hour to be ready.

A massa do pão realmente demorou uma hora inteira para ficar pronta.

Dann wird der Honig in Gläser abgefüllt.

Then the honey is poured into jars.

Então o mel é derramou em frascos.

Der Garten, den ihr hier seht, der gehört zur Domäne Dahlem.

The garden, which you see here, belongs to the Dömane Dahlem [name of museum].

O jardim, que você vê aqui, pertence ao Dömane Dahlem [nome do museu].

It is important to note that these rules often don’t apply to monosyllabic words.

For example, words ending in -eich are often masculine, but not das Reich ("the empire").

Und der hintere Bereich jetzt hier, wo kommen wir jetzt hin?

And the area now behind here, where are we going now?

E a área agora aqui atrás, onde nós vamos ir agora?

And don't forget: these “rules” are really only tendencies due to exceptions (tendências devido às exceções).

As we see here, there are words ending with -ant that are not masculine.

Der Elefant wollte an seine Frau nach Afrika schreiben.

The elephant wanted to write to his wife in Africa.

O elefante queria escrever para sua esposa na África.

Wie heißt das Restaurant, dessen Essen so... dessen Essen so gut sein soll?

What is the name of the restaurant whose food... whose food is supposed to be so good?

Qual é o nome do restaurante cuja comida ... cuja comida é suposta ser tão bom?

We will be back next week with typical endings for feminine nouns.