How to Guess German Noun Articles
1. By Word Ending (Suffix Rules)
DER (masculine): -er (der Computer), -en (der Garten), -ling (der Lehrling),
-or (der Motor), -ismus (der Tourismus), and days/months/seasons (der Montag).
DIE (feminine): -e (die Blume), -heit/-keit (die Freiheit), -ung (die Zeitung),
-schaft (die Freundschaft), -ion (die Nation), -tät (die Universität), -ik (die Musik),
and numbers (die Eins).
DAS (neuter): -chen/-lein (das Mädchen), -ment (das Instrument), -um (das Zentrum),
-tum (das Eigentum), -ma (das Drama), infinitives used as nouns (das Essen).
2. By Meaning
DER: male people/jobs, weather terms, car brands (der Mann, der Regen, der BMW).
DIE: female people/jobs, trees, flowers (die Frau, die Rose, die Linde).
DAS: young beings, hotels, colors, metals (das Kind, das Silber, das Blau).
3. By Plural Form
Most -en plurals are feminine (die Blume -> die Blumen).
Most neuter nouns have -e or -er plurals with umlaut (das Buch -> die Bücher).
4. Best Practice
Always learn nouns with their articles (e.g. der Tisch, die Lampe, das Haus).
Use flashcards and color-coding (blue=der, red=die, green=das).