The der/die/das rules / Nouns ending in -ion

Rule for feminine · die

Nouns ending in -ion

-ion → die · 2.2% (exception: das Stadion)

The rule, in plain language

Nouns borrowed from French or Latin that end in -ion are almost always feminine and take die: die Region (region), die Situation (situation), die Union (union). The suffix covers 2.2% of frequent nouns, one of the most productive patterns for internationally-derived words. Watch out for das Stadion (stadium), though - it ends the same way but stays neuter, likely because it entered German as a technical term straight from Greek/Latin rather than through the usual -ion word-formation. Otherwise, the rule is solid and safe to trust.

In the A1-B1 vocabulary of the Genau course, this rule covers 53 words (2.2%) and has 1 exceptions - all listed below.

Representative examples

The exceptions

These contradict the rule - learn them as-is:

All course words that follow this rule

Rules stick through practice. In the Genau app you train exactly this rule on its own words, with the GENAU! stamp on every correct answer - free, offline, no account. Coming soon to the App Store.