Gendern for learners: Lehrer*innen, Lehrer:innen, Studierende and how to say them
Gendern is the German word for writing and speaking in a way that includes women and people of all genders, rather than using only masculine forms. You will meet forms like Lehrer*innen, Lehrer:innen, Lehrerinnen und Lehrer and Studierende. As a learner you need to recognise all of them. For your own writing, pair forms like Lehrerinnen und Lehrer and neutral words like Lehrkräfte are correct under every set of rules, which makes them the safest choice in exams.
Why German has this question at all
Most German nouns for people have a masculine and a feminine form: der Lehrer (male teacher), die Lehrerin (female teacher), die Lehrerinnen (female teachers). Traditionally, the masculine plural die Lehrer has also been used for mixed groups and for people in general. This is called the generisches Maskulinum, the generic masculine.
Some people find that this makes women and non-binary people invisible, and so they use other forms. Others think the generic masculine already includes everyone and that the alternatives make texts harder to read. The topic is debated in Germany, and you will find both practices in everyday life. The aim here is not to take a side, but to make sure you understand what you read and hear.
The forms you will see
| Form | Example | Where it is common |
|---|---|---|
| Generic masculine | die Lehrer | traditional usage, much of everyday speech |
| Pair form | Lehrerinnen und Lehrer | speeches, letters, schools, official texts |
| Slash | Lehrer/-innen, Lehrer/innen | forms, job ads, short texts |
| Capital I | LehrerInnen | older texts, less common today |
| Gender star | Lehrer*innen | universities, some media, cities, organisations |
| Colon | Lehrer:innen | similar to the star, popular online |
| Underscore | Lehrer_innen | similar to the star, less common |
| Neutral word | Lehrkräfte, Studierende, Mitarbeitende | universities, administration, many companies |
The neutral words deserve a closer look, because they are useful and easy. Many are formed from a present participle used as a noun: Studierende (people who study) instead of Studenten, Mitarbeitende (employees) instead of Mitarbeiter, Teilnehmende (participants) instead of Teilnehmer. Others use a word that has no gender in meaning, such as die Lehrkraft, die Fachkraft, die Person or das Team.
How the star and colon are pronounced
When people read Lehrer*innen or Lehrer:innen aloud, they usually make a short break before -innen, a glottal stop like the one in the middle of uh-oh. Without the break, the word would sound like the feminine plural Lehrerinnen. Listen for this small pause on the radio or in a lecture; it is the spoken form of the star.
Many speakers do not use these forms in speech at all and say Lehrerinnen und Lehrer or a neutral word instead.
What the official spelling rules say
The Council for German Orthography (Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung), which looks after the official spelling rules in the German-speaking countries, has not made the star, colon or underscore part of standard spelling. In its decisions of 2023 it described these signs inside words as not belonging to the core of German orthography, and it added a section on special characters to the official rules that mentions them. The council has said that it will continue to observe how usage develops.
Rules for schools and administration are set by each federal state. Some states, such as Bavaria, explicitly do not allow these signs in official correspondence. Universities, cities and companies set their own guidelines, which is why practice differs so much.
What to use in an exam
In language exams, pair forms (Kolleginnen und Kollegen) and neutral words (Lehrkräfte, Studierende) are always correct. The generic masculine is also grammatically correct. If you are writing a formal letter, the pair form in the greeting is standard: Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren or Liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen.
Forms with a star or colon raise grammar questions that the rules do not answer, for example which article to use (der*die Lehrer*in?) and what to do with words that change their vowel (Arzt, Ärztin). For these reasons it is easier to avoid them in your own writing as a learner.
m/w/d in job adverts
Almost every German job advert has (m/w/d) after the job title: Verkäufer (m/w/d). It stands for männlich, weiblich, divers (male, female, diverse) and shows that the job is open to people of all genders. Sometimes the order is (w/m/d) or (m/w/x). It does not change the meaning of the job title in front of it.
Krankenschwester or Pflegefachfrau?
Job titles are another area where learners notice change. The traditional word for a nurse, Krankenschwester, literally means a sister for the sick, and it only exists in a female form. Since the reform of the nursing professions in 2020, the official professional title in Germany is Pflegefachfrau or Pflegefachmann, and people with the qualification can also choose Pflegefachperson. People who qualified under the old rules may keep their old title, and Krankenschwester is still widely understood and heard in everyday speech. The general word for a qualified nurse is Pflegefachkraft.
die Pflegefachfrau, der Pflegefachmannnurse (official title)
die Pflegefachkraft, die Pflegefachkräftequalified nurse (general)
die Krankenschwesternurse (traditional, female)
der Krankenpflegermale nurse (traditional)
die Lehrkraft, die Lehrkräfteteacher (neutral)
die Studierendenstudents (neutral)
The short version for learners
Understand all the forms when you read them. When you speak, use whichever form the people around you use, or the pair form if you are unsure. When you write for an exam, use pair forms or neutral words. That way you are correct everywhere and do not have to take a position in a debate you may not want to join.
For the masculine and feminine forms of nouns, see the page on noun gender. The post on der, die or das shows why the ending -in always gives a feminine noun.
Written by: Fatih Ün, German teacher · Last updated: