German words ending in -lein
A noun ending in -lein is das. The original gender is overwritten, not consulted.
German has two diminutive endings, -lein and -chen, and both do the same thing: they make the thing smaller and they make the noun neuter. Der Bach becomes das Bächlein, die Frau becomes das Fräulein, das Buch becomes das Büchlein. The stem vowel usually takes an umlaut on the way.
This is the rule behind das Mädchen and das Fräulein: both neuter although one names a girl and the other a woman, because the diminutive suffix decides the gender and the word underneath it does not get a vote. Grammar wins over meaning here, every time, with no exceptions in the language.
The difference between the two is register, not grammar. -chen is the everyday one and you will hear it all day. -lein is older and more literary, and it survives in fairy tales and songs, in place names, and in a handful of fixed words. If you are inventing a diminutive yourself, reach for -chen.
Worked examples
- das Fräulein young woman not in the deck, unchecked
- das Bächlein small stream not in the deck, unchecked
Not in this deck
This deck holds no noun ending in -lein, so there is no percentage to print here and this page prints none. The examples above come from German rather than from the deck. The ending has no exceptions, so there is nothing a figure would add.
Try it
The drill below is the mixed starter deck, and it contains no -lein word at all. The one diminutive in it carries -chen, which runs on this same rule with the more common ending.
Wohnung