h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The neuter nouns

There are few rules defining the neuter nouns, few groups that can be named. Students of old languages may be able to recognise a few from the Latin or Greek origins, but even there it is not always a reliable guide.

The following groups of words are worth mentioning.

You may see words formed with "Ge...e". These are always neuter, although the "e" at the end would lead one to think that they are feminine. This construction has a connotation of an undefined amount of something, often in a negative sense:

Gerede - the talk about something (made from reden - to talk)
Gemüse - vegetables (probably derived from "das Mus" somehow, which means an edible substance, usually mashed)
Gedöns (very colloquial, meaning a fuss about something, an awkward way of doing things, a collection of miscellaneous equipment, where the speaker can't be bothered to specify details)

Many years ago, I was taught that foreign words are usually neuter. But this is a vague definition, as words have been integrated over the years and are not always recognisable as such. The example given at the time was "das Radio", but where I live, I have only ever heard people speak of "der Radio".

Apart from this, here is a hotchpotch collection of common words which fit into this category

Das Papier - the paper, or a piece of paper (not newspaper - that was die Zeitung, remember?)
Das Blatt - the leaf, also of paper, but mainly of plants!
Das Schild - the sign (road sign. The word originally meant shield. Still does, but only in the sense of knights in armour)
Das Licht - light
Das Gewicht - weight
Das Gesicht - face
Das Auto - the car
Das Telefon - the telephone
Das Auge - the eye - pronounced ow - ger ... the sort of "ow" you say when you hurt yourself
Das Buch - the book
Das Honorar - the fees, as in an amount of money paid for example to a lawyer, translator or doctor for work done.

Just a minor point for advanced learners, and chances are that you never come across this one:
Actually, 'Schild' is /two/ words, with two different genders.
The piece which a knight would carry around is 'der Schild' (Plural: 'die Schilde'). But this is heraldics, where colours aren't colours and even 'left' and 'right' are just the other way round!
Any other 'Schild' (pl: 'die Schilder') is a neuter.

TC, I just wanted to add an obscure who-would-ever-want-to-know-that thingy here

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