German nouns for people usually have a masculine and a feminine form, and there are several ways of referring to mixed groups. This page describes the forms you will meet and the main arguments in the public debate, without taking sides.
Most German nouns for people have a masculine and a feminine form: der Lehrer – die Lehrerin, der Kunde – die Kundin. For mixed or unknown groups, writers choose between several options:
| Form | Example | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| generic masculine | die Lehrer | traditional usage; much fiction, journalism and everyday speech |
| Doppelnennung (pair form) | Lehrerinnen und Lehrer | speeches, official letters, salutations |
| slash | Lehrer/-innen | forms, job adverts |
| Binnen-I | LehrerInnen | 1980s onwards; less frequent today |
| gender star | Lehrer*innen | universities, some media and organisations |
| colon / underscore | Lehrer:innen, Lehrer_innen | similar contexts to the star |
| participle noun | die Lehrenden, die Studierenden | universities, administration |
| neutral noun | die Lehrkraft, das Kollegium, die Person | administration, schools |
| rephrasing | Wer teilnehmen möchte, … | all registers |
In speech, the star and colon forms are sometimes pronounced with a short pause before -innen.
The question of which form to use is one of the most discussed language topics in German-speaking countries. The main positions can be summarised as follows.
The Council for German Orthography (Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung) has stated that characters such as the star and colon inside words are not part of the core of official German spelling, while recommending that texts should treat all people fairly. Some institutions and state governments have issued rules for their own documents, schools or administration, and these rules differ from place to place.
You should recognise all these forms, because you will meet them in university emails, job adverts and newspapers. When you write, follow the conventions of the place: a company, university or authority often has a style guide. In exams, the generic masculine and the pair form are always grammatically correct; if you use another form, use it consistently throughout the text.
| Not quite | Correct | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Die Studierende haben Fragen. | Die Studierenden haben Fragen. | After the definite article, participle nouns take the weak ending -en in the plural. |
| Liebe Kollegeninnen und Kollegen | Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen | The feminine is formed from the stem: Kollege → Kollegin → Kolleginnen. |
| Lehrer*Innen | Lehrer*innen | The star is followed by lower-case innen; the capital I belongs to a different form (LehrerInnen). Use one convention at a time. |
1. Alle ___ müssen sich bis Mai einschreiben.
2. Liebe Kolleginnen und ___!
3. Which form uses the gender star?
4. Which noun is a neutral alternative to Lehrer in school documents?
5. Die Teilnehmenden ___ gebeten, pünktlich zu sein.
6. Sehr geehrte ___ und Kunden,
7. In its intended generic use, die Ärzte refers to:
8. Which sentence avoids personal nouns altogether?
Related grammar: Noun genders: der, die, das, Neologisms and word creation, Register and grammar, Participles as adjectives.
Back to the grammar reference or to the C2 lessons.
Original practice questions written by the Desi European Tales editorial team; they are not the official exam questions. Checked 1 November 2026.
Related: German grammar reference · German C2 lessons · Noun genders: der, die, das
