So, two days ago I started using a Grammar book so that I can learn German grammar as well.
The first topic is nouns and their genders. I did some research but it seems the only is memorization of various nouns and der, die, das usage.
I want to ask: How did you guys learn this German grammar usage especially when it comes to nouns? I am already struggling with the first topic lol.
1 Like
As a relative beginner in German, I believe you just have to remember the gender and plural form of every word. After a while you will see patterns, thus some endings are always feminine, and some word endings change to the plural in a regular way. I read somewhere that you can guess gender 80% of the time, but this is once you get deeper into the language. Don’t memorise the rules, they will come naturally.
Don’t memorise a grammar book, instead memorise the words through using them in comprehensible input.
If you want cheering up, French gender is far more irregular.
2 Likes
There are some tricks…See here:
German Gender and Big Data (yourdailygerman.com)
and
The best tips and tricks to learn German articles (der, die, das) - Lingoda
A really good source for all the rules/patterns is Hammer’s German Grammar and Usage, but the two articles above should suffice for now.
It’s nice to get them all correct, but don’t fret over it too much unless you are actually needing to take a test. People are going to almost always know what you’re talking about even if you get the genders wrong and slowly you’ll start to pick up on things naturally.
3 Likes
I agree with Eric: I wouldn’t learn this usage “article + noun” by heart.
If you get enough exposure to German, you’ll get a feel for it.
How much exposure do you need?
As always, it’s hard to say because each learner is different. but from my experience with other Germanic / Romance languages, I’d say.
- ca. 2.5 - 3 million words - to feel OK.
- ca. 6 million words (and more) - to feel at ease.
I don’t know if it’s any consolation to you:
Even little native German speakers struggle with this in the first years of their lives.
For example, my nephews tended to say:
"Das Wauwau (childish for: the dog) instead of “der Wauwau” (because it’s “der Hund)”.
And our baby girl (16 months) uses an even shorter version:
just “wau” (no articles, no verbs… nothing) and then she hints at the dog. As adults, we understand her perfectly 
In short: Trust the process - and you’ll be fine!
Besides, it’s better to focus on “collocations” (the tens of thousands of conventionalized word groups that native speakers use).
These “chunks” are much more important for language processing than the correct articles (see the concurrent discussion with Bembe about “Sprachheld”).
Good luck!
3 Likes