Der, die or das Gen?
das Gen
- Gender
- neuter
- English
- gene
- Plural
- die Gene
Why is it das Gen?
No ending or meaning rule gives away the gender of Gen. Like many everyday German nouns, it has to be learned together with its article: das Gen.
For the endings that do predict gender, see the Der-Die-Das rules guide.
Example sentences
- Das Gen bestimmt die Augenfarbe.The gene determines eye color.
- Ich lese über die Gene im Biologiebuch.I read about genes in the biology book.
Gen in the four cases
The article changes with the case. The highlighted column shows the forms to use with Gen: definite article first, then the indefinite article.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der / ein | die / eine | das / ein | die |
| Accusative | den / einen | die / eine | das / ein | die |
| Dative | dem / einem | der / einer | dem / einem | den |
| Genitive | des / eines | der / einer | des / eines | der |
Gen is one of about 1,700 common nouns in the free Der-Die-Das trainer. Short daily rounds with spaced repetition make the article stick.