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Although for most words gender can only be found by looking it up in a dictionary, the following rules can be used to determine the gender of many words:

  • Masculine nouns: ''De'' (There is a small number of words that form exceptions to the rules stated below, like bak''er'' (midwife)).

  • ---Words ending with:

  • ---aar > leugenaar (liar)

  • ---aard > dronkaard (drunken person)

  • ---er > bakker (baker)

  • ---erd > engerd (creep)

  • ---Indepently used verb stems:

  • --for example: ''bloei'' (blossom), ''dank'' (thanks), ''groei'' (growth), ''schrik'' (fear) and ''slaap'' (sleep).

  • ---Obviously male words:

  • --For example ''oom'' (uncle), ''dief'' (male thief) and ''hengst'' (stallion). Exception, use neutral when diminutive is used ''jongetje'' (little boy).

  • Feminine nouns: ''De'' (There is a small number of words that form exceptions to the rules stated below, like: ''dien'''st''''' (favour)).

  • ---Words ending with:

  • ---heid > waarheid (truth)

  • ---nis > kennis (knowledge)

  • ---schap > boodschap (message)

  • ---de > liefde (love)

  • ---te > diepte (depth)

  • ---ij > voogdij (custody)

  • ---ing > wandeling (hike)

  • ---st > winst (profit)

  • ---ster > verpleegster (nurse)

  • ---in > godin (godess)

  • ---Words with non-native endings or elements: (There is a small number of words that form exceptions to the rules stated below, like ''kanarie'' (canary)

  • ---ie > filosofie (philosophy)

  • ---iek > muziek (music)

  • ---ica > logica (logic)

  • ---theek > bibliotheek (library)

  • ---teit > puberteit (puberty)

  • ---tuur > natuur (nature)

  • ---suur > censuur (censorship)

  • ---ade > tirade (tirade)

  • ---ide > asteroïde (astroid)

  • ---ode > periode (period)

  • ---ude > amplitude (amplitude)

  • ---age > tuigage (rigging)

  • ---ine > discipline (discipline)

  • ---se > analyse (analysis)

  • ---sis > crisis (crisis)

  • ---xis > syntaxis (syntax)

  • ---tis > bronchitis (bronchitis)

  • ---Obviously female words:

  • --for example ''tante'' (aunt), ''dievegge'' (female thief) and ''merrie'' (mare). Exception, use neutral when diminutive is used ''meisje'' (girl).

  • Neutral nouns: ''Het''

  • --- Diminutive nouns (recognizable by ''je, kje, pje, tje'' or ''etje'' after the stem). Note this holds even when the noun is obviously male or female (e.g. ''meis'''''je''' (girl)):

  • --for example: bloempje (little flower), lammetje (little lamb)

  • ---Verb stems with the following prefixes

  • --be- > beraad (consideration)

  • --ge- > gedoe (fuss)

  • --ont- > ontslag (discharge)

  • ---Names of towns and countries.

  • --for example: Brussel (Brussels) and Nederland (the Netherlands)

  • ---Words ending with -isme.

  • --for example: Socialisme (socialism) and vandalisme (vandalism)