Is there an official rule on whether it’s die E-Mail or das E-Mail? I’ve heard people use both, although more commonly the female form.
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1Shouldn't it be called by its full name? I.e. "Die E-Mail-Nachricht"? – Uwe Keim Dec 1 '11 at 19:00
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5What is "das Email"? Das Emaille kenne ich. – user unknown Jan 13 '12 at 18:51
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4@user: duden.de/rechtschreibung/Email – Hendrik Vogt Jan 14 '12 at 12:17
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Possible duplicate: german.stackexchange.com/q/928/266 – user unknown Feb 10 '12 at 0:30
According to the Duden, both feminine and neuter genders are possible. My personal experience is that indeed most people use die E-Mail in Germany; according to the comments, people tend to say das E-Mail in Austria and Switzerland. Note that the Duden lists the word as E-Mail, not Email (the latter being also a German word for enamel).
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1Yes, in fact I have not heard anyone actually using "das E-Mail". Might have to do with the fact that "Post" is female as well, which "E-Mail" translates into, and "das Email" would be the proper enamel gender, as you pointed out. – Katharina Nickel Aug 16 '11 at 13:23
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5I actually know a few people who say das E-Mail. (I also know someone who says die E-Post, which I like very much
:-)) – Hendrik Vogt Aug 16 '11 at 13:28 -
5Personal experience: Our Austrian customers tend to say das E-Mail, just like das Cola. – OregonGhost Aug 16 '11 at 16:48
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2Der Brief, die Post, das Schreiben. Man suche es sich aus. Siehe auch die Diskussion Wonach richtet sich das Geschlecht eines Anglizismus? – user unknown Aug 16 '11 at 20:36
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2In Switzerland people tend to say "das E-Mail" instead of "die E-Mail". – Philippe Gerber Aug 18 '11 at 10:03
