German nouns are divided into types by gender: masculine (maskulin - der), feminine (feminin - die), neuter (neutral - das). In the plural, all German nouns take the gender die. In today's article we will learn some rules for forming the plural of nouns.

Let's get started!

Ways of forming the plural of nouns in German:

1. Add the ending „-n/en“ to the end:

- 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“. For example: „die Kellnerin“ – „die Kellnerinnen“

2. Add the ending „e/e + Umlaut“ to the end:

- 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 mostly take an Umlaut.

3. Add the ending „r/er“ to the end:

- 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“ to the end:

- 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/names:

• die Meiers (= Familie Meier - the Meier family)

• die Müllers (= Familie Müller - the Müller family)

5. Plural nouns that do not change from the singular

- Nouns ending in „-el“, „-er“ und „en“: when forming the plural, only the article changes, and an Umlaut may be added

• der Apfel – die Äpfel

• der Vater – die Väter

• das Brötchen – die Brötchen

!!! Feminine nouns ending in "el" can also add the ending "n" to form the plural. For example: die Kartoffel - die Kartoffeln

6. The plural of nouns borrowed from foreign languages

- Nouns borrowed from English are usually given the ending „s“. Nouns borrowed from other languages have special inflection depending on each noun.

• das Museum – die Museen

• das Praktikum – die Praktika

• der Blog - die Blogs

7. Nouns that have 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 have a plural meaning (Obst = mehrere Früchte) or are uncountable (Milch, Durst)

8. Nouns that have no singular form

- Some nouns exist only in the plural:

• die Leute → people

• die Eltern → parents