In German the words for job titles are different, depending on whether you are talking about a man or a woman.
The feminine form is usually created by adding -in to the masculine form. Unlike masculine job titles, feminine ones ending in -in have a regular plural:
| masculine | feminine | |
| Singular | der Lehrer | die Lehrerin |
| Plural | die Lehrer | die Lehrerinnen |
| masculine | feminine | |
| Singular | der Ingenieur | die Ingenieurin |
| Plural | die Ingenieure | die Ingenieurinnen |
| masculine | feminine | |
| Singular | der Pilot | die Pilotin |
| Plural | die Piloten | die Pilotinnen |
| masculine | feminine | |
| Singular | der Computerexperte* | die Computerexpertin* |
| Plural | die Computerexperten | die Computerexpertinnen |
*When the masculine job title ends with -e, this is replaced by -in in the feminine.
Sometimes the feminine form also gets an umlaut.
| masculine | feminine | |
| Singular | der Arzt | die Ärztin |
| Plural | die Ärzte | die Ärztinnen |
| masculine | feminine | |
| Singular | der Koch | die Köchin |
| Plural | die Köche | die Köchinnen |
| masculine | feminine | |
| Singular | der Anwalt | die Anwältin |
| Plural | die Anwälte | die Anwältinnen |
There are also some feminine job titles that are formed completely differently:
| masculine | feminine | |
| Singular | der Bankkaufmann | die Bankkauffrau |
| Plural | die Bankkaufmänner | die Bankkauffrauen |
| masculine | feminine | |
| Singular | der Krankenpfleger | die Krankenschwester |
| Plural | die Krankenpfleger | die Krankenschwestern |
When we are talking about a professional group that includes men and women, the masculine plural is often used. Because this may be considered discriminatory, today both forms are often used together, or a neutral plural is used.
Viele Ärzte und Ärztinnen arbeiten auch nachts.
Bankkaufleute arbeiten in einer Bank.