Most world languages have nouns that are either masculine or feminine. German goes them one better and adds a third gender: neuter. The masculine definite article (“the”) is der, the feminine is die, and the neuter form is das. German speakers have had many years to learn whether wagen (car) is der or die or das. It's der wagen, but for learners new to the language it's not so easy to know which form to use.

Forget linking gender to a specific meaning or concept. It's not the actual person, place, or thing that has gender in German, but the word that stands for the actual thing. That's why a “car” can be either das auto (neuter) or der wagen (masculine).

In German, the definite article is much more important than it is in English. For one thing, it is used more often. An English-speaker might say "nature is wonderful." In German, the article would also be included to say "die natur ist wunderschön."

The indefinite article ("a" or "an" in English) is ein or eine in German. Ein basically means "one" and like the definite article, it indicates the gender of the noun it goes with (eine or ein). For a feminine noun, only eine can be used (in the nominative case). For masculine or neuter nouns, only ein is correct. This is a very important concept to learn. It is also reflected in the use of possessive adjectives such as sein(e) (his) or mein(e) (my), which are also called "ein-words."

Although nouns for people often follow natural gender, there are exceptions such as das mädchen (girl). There are three different German words for "ocean" or "sea," all with a different gender: der ozean, das meer, die see. Gender does not transfer well from one language to another. The word for "sun" is masculine in Spanish (el sol) but feminine in German (die sonne). A German moon is masculine (der mond), while a Spanish moon is feminine (la luna). It's enough to drive an English speaker crazy.

A good general rule for learning German vocabulary is to treat the article of a noun as an integral part of the word. Don't just learn garten (garden), learn der garten. Don't just learn tür (door), learn die tür. Not knowing a word's gender can lead to all sorts of other problems. For example, das tor is the gate or portal, while der tor is the fool. Are you meeting someone at the lake (am see) or by the sea (an der see)?

There are some hints that can help you remember the gender of a German noun. These guidelines work for many noun categories, but certainly not for all. For most nouns, you will just have to know the gender. If you're going to guess, guess der. The highest percentage of German nouns are masculine. Memorizing these rules will help you get gender right without having to guess—at least, not all the time!