Rule for neuter · das

Nouns starting with Ge-

Ge- → das · only 64%, watch for exceptions

The rule, in plain language

Many nouns starting with Ge- are neuter: Gericht (court/dish), Gespräch (conversation), and Gebäude (building) follow this pattern - often because the Ge- prefix builds collective or abstract nouns from verbs (sprechen → Gespräch, bauen → Gebäude). Still, this rule has a lot of exceptions, so don't bet blindly on das just because a word starts with Ge-: Geschichte, Gemeinde, Gefahr, and Gewalt are feminine, while Gegner, Geschäftsführer, Gemeinderat, and Geburtstag are masculine. Out of 84 Ge- words in our set, 30 break the rule - an exception rate of almost 36%, the highest among rules of this kind. Treat the pattern as a hint, not a guarantee, and double-check new Ge- words as you learn them.

In the A1-B1 vocabulary of the Genau course, this rule covers 54 words (2.3%) and has 30 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.