das Gehalt vs. der Gehalt

Question

In the sense "salary; wage; stipend", the word Gehalt can be either masculine or neuter. dict.cc writes this as

das/[österr. auch] der Gehalt

What is the difference between the word in these genders? Do they carry different connotations? Could I use the neutral form in Austria and the masculine in Germany?

I never heared "der Gehalt", it sounds kind of weird to me. – FUZxxl May 28 '11 at 08:07 — FUZxxl, May 28 '11 at 08:07
Only in the other meaning of "concentration" – FUZxxl May 28 '11 at 08:42 — FUZxxl, May 28 '11 at 08:42

score 9 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:52

9

Like you said, Das Gehalt means the salary. Der Gehalt means salary in Austria, and it means the content (in a mixture). ^{(wiktionary, duden)}

Das Gehalt ist Tarifgebunden

Der Fettgehalt der Milch is 3,8 %.

The masculine form just doesn't work, if you're talking about Salary, in Germany. Austria uses both forms, but drifts towards using the neutral form.

Leaving aside whether they're understood properly: they don't carry different connotations.

Switzerland, southern Germany, and - to a lesser extend - Austria also use Salär.

edited Jun 17 '20 at 08:52

Community

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answered May 28 '11 at 08:16

Stefano Palazzo

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"The neutral form just doesn't work, if you're talking about Salary, in Germany." neutral? – splattne May 28 '11 at 08:19
I know Austrians speaking of Salär instead of Gehalt. – bernd_k May 28 '11 at 08:47
Salär kommt wohl von französisch salaire. – starblue Jun 01 '11 at 12:11
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"Salär" in southern Germany? Never heard of it in Bavaria. Here its called "Lohn, Gehalt" – Fraggles Mar 18 '14 at 10:52

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered May 28 '11 at 08:21

9

der Gehalt = content, proportion, percentage, concentration

das Gehalt = salary, pay, remuneration

As a German, I'm not informed about the above mentioned Austrian variants, but in Germany, "der Gehalt" has nothing to do with getting paid for work.

answered May 28 '11 at 08:21

teylyn

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That's why I clarified that I meant the sense "salary; wage; stipend". Good to know that a German has never heard the masculine form. – Tim May 28 '11 at 08:22

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered May 28 '11 at 08:13

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There is no semantic difference.

If you're primarily communicating with people in Germany I recommend using the neutrum version "das Gehalt".

In Austria both forms are common. I'm pretty sure that the neutrum form is the predominant gender too.

answered May 28 '11 at 08:13

splattne

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das Gehalt vs. der Gehalt

3 Answers3