German nouns are divided into categories by masculine (maskulin - der), feminine (feminin - die), and neuter (neutral - das). In the plural form, all nouns in German take the gender die.
German nouns are divided into categories by gender: masculine (maskulin - der), feminine (feminin - die), and neuter (neutral - das). In the plural form, all German nouns take the gender die. In today's article, we will explore a few rules for forming the plural of nouns.
Let's get started!
Ways to form the plural of nouns in German:
1. Add the ending „-n/en" after:
- Masculine nouns ending in „ent", „ant", „and", „or", „ist"
-
der Student - die Studenten
-
der Polizist - die Polizisten
- Feminine nouns ending in „in", „ion", „ik", „ung", „tät", „schaft", „keit", „heit"
-
die Universität - die Universitäten
-
die Organisation - die Organisationen
- 99% of nouns ending in „e"
-
die Flasche - die Flaschen
-
die Tasse - die Tassen
!!! For nouns ending in in, double the letter „n". Example: „die Kellnerin" – „die Kellnerinnen"
2. Add the ending „e/e + Umlaut" after:
- Most masculine nouns
-
der Baum - die Bäume
-
der König - die Könige
- Most one-syllable feminine nouns
-
die Nacht - die Nächte
-
die Hand - die Hände
!!! Note:
- One-syllable feminine nouns containing a, o, u always take an Umlaut (ä, ö, ü) in the plural.
- One-syllable masculine nouns containing a, o, u will mostly also take an Umlaut.
3. Add the ending „r/er" after:
- Most one-syllable neuter nouns. The plural of most of these nouns is formed with an Umlaut.
-
das Haus – die Häuser
-
das Glas - die Gläser
-
das Kind - die Kinder
!!! Note:Feminine nouns never add the ending "r" or "er" to form the plural.
4. Add the ending „s":
- All nouns ending in a, i, o, u, or y
-
das Sofa – die Sofas
-
das Auto – die Autos
-
die Omi – die Omis
-
das Hobby – die Hobbys
- Loanwords from foreign languages
-
das Team – die Teams
-
der Job - die Jobs
- Family surnames:
-
die Meiers (= Familie Meier - the Meier family)
-
die Müllers (= Familie Müller - the Müller family)
5. Plural nouns that are unchanged from the singular
- Nouns ending in „-el", „-er" und „en" only change their article when forming the plural and may add an Umlaut
-
der Apfel – die Äpfel
-
der Vater – die Väter
-
das Brötchen – die Brötchen
!!! Feminine nouns ending in "el" may also add the ending "n" to form the plural. Example: die Kartoffel - die Kartoffeln
6. Plural forms of foreign loanwords
- Nouns borrowed from English will usually take the ending „s". Nouns borrowed from other languages will have special declensions depending on each noun.
-
das Museum – die Museen
-
das Praktikum – die Praktika
-
der Blog - die Blogs
7. Nouns with no plural form
- Some nouns exist only in the singular, such as:
-
das Obst → fruit
-
die Milch → milk
-
der Durst → thirst
These nouns exist in the singular but carry a plural meaning (Obst = mehrere Früchte) or are uncountable (Milch, Durst)
8. Nouns with no singular form
- Some nouns exist only in the plural:
-
die Leute → people
-
die Eltern → parents
Knowledge test
How to form the plural of nouns in German
- 1.
die Strecke → die
- 2.
die Schülerin → die
- 3.
das Haus → die
- 4.
das Kaninchen → die
- 5.
der Lehrer → die