German has three tenses: Female, Male, and Neuter. It would make sense that the word for girl, mädchen, would be female, but in fact it is neuter. The word derives from an archaic word for girl, magd, which was indeed female. To this the diminutive 'chen' was added - a suffix that makes a word cute, similar to the suffix 'y' in English or 'ette' in French. However, in German, making a word diminutive changes it to neuter. The original word 'magd' was eventually forgotten, and the neuter alternative mädchen is now standard.
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