Judy, If I remember correctly it was taught as part of German grammer in school. I think I have made the comment on this list before the trouble I have converting them to english: For example: Die Katze (the cat) feminine Der Hund (the dog) masculine - I unconsciously refer to cats as "She" and to dogs as "He" when I am speaking English. Klaus Dieter Cook, Houston, Texas ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2000 6:44 AM Subject: [GERMAN-LIFE] Language > I am sure this has probably been talked about before, but I have never > understood, and hope someone can explain to me. How to you determine the sex > of inanimate objects, for the German language. How is it determined if a > door, or chair, for instance, is male or female? There must be some > reasoning to it, or is this just learned by speaking German as a child, and > passed up? Thanks for any help. Judy >