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[–] 6 points 2 years ago (5 children)

i don't recall there being any rhyme or reason to gender in german, but it's been many years since i studied. i do remember that the gender of any word like ____-machine would be whatever the gender is for machine.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    The only actual rule I'm aware of is diminutives (i.e. words ending in -chen or -lein) always being neuter (das). This is also the reason why it's das Mädchen (girl) and das Fräulein.

    The rest is arbitrary, and sometimes there's even regional variations.

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