The Masculine Nouns  In many German language textbooks, students
are told that they must simply memorize the gender of each noun.
That's not very efficient, and that's certainly not what German
speakers do. As they grow up with their language, German-
speaking children hear the patterns of words that require a
certain gender and gradually conform to them. Along the way,
they memorize the exceptions. Identifying the patterns is very
helpful in determining gender, and it reduces the need for a
great deal of memorization.  There are some broad rules for
determining which gender a noun is, and it should be admitted
from the start that in many cases there will be exceptions to
the rules. But the rules are helpful guideposts for making
intelligent choices when using der, die, or das.  Here are four
basic categories of masculine nouns. (There are more than just
four, but these are a good starting point.) Many—but not
all!—words that end in –er –el, or –en tend to be masculine. In
addition, cognates that refer to men