German Ends with -ung, But What Does It Mean?

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We see it everywhere in German.

-ung.

At the end of nouns like Rechnung, Bewegung, Übung, Entwicklung, Aussage, Erfahrung, Verbindung… and many more.

But what exactly does -ung mean?
And how does it compare to English?

🔸 -ung = a process, a result, or a concept

In most cases, -ung nouns come from verbs.
They express:

• The process: Bewegung = the act of moving
• The result: Entwicklung = the development
• The abstract concept: Verbindung = connection

In that way, they’re similar to English words like:

• movement, development, connection, payment, decision…

But -ung doesn’t just mean “-ment” in English.
Sometimes it matches words ending in “-ion”, “-ing”, or something else entirely.

Let’s look closer.

🔸 All -ung nouns are feminine

Here’s the first key fact:

All nouns ending in -ung in modern German are feminine — they take the article die.

There are no known masculine or neuter nouns with this ending in standard usage.
That’s why it’s safe to learn: “If it ends in -ung, it’s die.”

Why do many textbooks say “almost always”?
Good question. Probably because:

1. Some learners may hear rare non-standard forms in dialects or poetry.
2. Language is full of exceptions — authors are being cautious.
3. Some older, obsolete forms may show up in literature.

But in real usage und modern German:

die Übung, die Bewegung, die Entwicklung, die Verbindung…
Always die.

🔸 English -ing is not the same

Many students assume that -ung just equals -ing.
But that’s not true — especially not grammatically.

In English, words ending in -ing serve three different roles:

➤ 1. Present Participle (Partizip I)

Example: The burning house
This is an adjective. In German: das brennende Haus

German forms it with Partizip I — the verb + -end.

brennen → brennend, arbeiten → arbeitend, laufen → laufend

Dies ist nicht an -ung word.

➤ 2. Gerund (das Gerundium)

Example: Reading is fun.

This is a verb acting like a noun — expressing an activity.
In German: you usually use a noun form of the verb:

Lesen macht Spaß. (Not Lesung here — Lesung means “reading session”, like an event.)

Again: not always -ung.

➤ 3. Verbal Noun (verbal noun)

Example: a good cleaning, a strong warning

This is where English and German match.

German:

die Reinigung, die Warnung, die Verbindung…

Englisch:

a cleaning, a warning, a connection…

These are noun results of actions — and this is when -ung appears.

So: not all -ing nouns in English become -ung nouns in German, and not all -ung nouns come from -ing forms.

That’s why literal translation can fail.

🔸 Think in categories — not endings

Instead of asking:

“What’s the German word for [X]?”

Ask:

“What category is this word in?”
“What is it doing in the sentence?”

Once you know if it’s an action, a process, a result, or an idea —
German gives you a clear way to express it.

Die -ung form is powerful — but only when it’s the right one.

🔗 Related reading from our blog:

→ Üben ist nicht Arbeiten: Why Practicing Is Not the Same as Working
→ Lebensarbeit, Lebenstätigkeit oder Lebensjob?
→ Stille vs Stil: When Silence and Style Sound the Same

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Unter Start Language School von Tymur Levitin, we don’t just explain endings.
We teach the meaning behind the form — so grammar becomes a tool for clear, living thought.

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© Tymur Levitin — Author, Teacher, Translator