Day 1: Gendered nouns and describing your home
Overview
Self-Study Topic | Duration: 25–30 minutes
Level: Absolute Beginner
OBJECTIVE
By the end of this topic, you will be able to:
✔ Identify the gender (der, die, das) of common everyday nouns.
✔ Confidently state what an object is using “Das ist…”
CONTENT
1. Self-check
Check how much you remember from last week:
- Make a personal presentation like the one you practiced on Friday.
- Tell time.
- Talk about what you do on various days of the week.
Speak freely, without using notes.
Congratulations! You have now mastered basic German!
2. Gendered nouns
Step 1: What are Genders?
- In German, every noun has a gender: masculine (der), feminine (die), or neuter (das).
- Die is also used for plural nouns.
- This is a category, not necessarily related to whether the object is male or female.
- Think of it as a “noun group.”
- Der, die, and das are definite articles.
- You need to learn the article with the noun from the very beginning!
Tip: The word “the” in English is just one word. In German, it’s three: der, die, or das.
Step 2: Common Nouns & Their Genders
Let’s start with everyday items you might find in a room:
- Study this list.
- Listen to the audio clip below to hear the correct pronunciation.
- Stop the audio clip and repeat until you have mastered the pronunciation
| German | Article | English | Pronunciation Tip |
| der Stuhl | der | the chair | “Shtool” |
| der Tisch | der | the table | “Tish” |
| der Computer | der | the computer | Just like English! |
| der Teppich | der | the carpet | “TEP-ish” |
| der Sessel | der | the armchair | “ZES-sel” |
| der Schrank | der | the cupboard / wardrobe | “Shrahnk” |
| der Bildschirm | der | the screen / monitor | “BILT-sheerm” |
| die Lampe | die | the lamp | “LAHM-peh” |
| die Tür | die | the door | Like “tour” but shorter |
| die Pflanze | die | the plant | “PFLAHN-tseh” |
| die Wand | die | the wall | “Vahnd” |
| die Uhr | die | the clock | “Oor” |
| das Bett | das | the bed | “Bet” |
| das Buch | das | the book | “Bookh” (ch like in Scottish ‘loch’) |
| das Fenster | das | the window | “FEN-ster” |
| das Regal | das | the shelf / bookcase | “re-GAHL” |
| das Kissen | das | the pillow / cushion | “KIS-sen” |
| das Papier | das | the paper | “pah-PEER” |
| das Radio | das | the radio | “RAH-dio” |
| das Handy | das | the mobile phone | “HEN-dee” |
| das Bild | das | the picture / painting | “Bilt” |
Step 3: Practice
Exercise 1: Drop the nouns into the correct boxes.
Exercise 2: Drag and drop words to label the items.