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Plurals

Plurals

While English typically adds -s or -es to form plurals, German has multiple patterns based on the noun's gender and ending.

Five most common plural formation patterns

Pattern
Description
Examples
-e
Applies to most masculine and some neuter nouns
der Tag → die Tage (days) der Tisch → die Tische (tables) das Jahr → die Jahre (years)
-er
Applies to many neuter and some masculine nouns. Often accompanied by an umlaut change.
das Kind → die Kinder (children) das Bild → die Bilder (pictures) der Mann → die Männer (men)
-en/-n
Most predictable pattern, applies to most feminine nouns and Masculine nouns ending in -e
die Frau → die Frauen (women) die Blume → die Blumen (flowers) der Name → die Namen (names)
-s
Primarily applies to foreign words and abbreviations
das Auto → die Autos (cars) das Hobby → die Hobbys (hobbies) der Chef → die Chefs (bosses)
No change
Some nouns don't change their form in the plural!
der Lehrer → die Lehrer (teachers) der Schüler → die Schüler (students) das Fenster → die Fenster (windows)
 

Umlaut changes

Many German plurals involve changing the vowel sound with an umlaut (ä, ö, ü).
  • Some nouns only add an umlaut in plural form
      1. der Vater → die Väter (fathers)
      1. die Mutter → die Mütter (mothers)
  • But some others add both an umlaut and an ending
      1. der Baum (tree) → die Bäume (trees)
      1. das Haus (house) → die Häuser (houses)
 

Special cases and exceptions

  • Foreign word / words derived from Greek or Latin
      1. das Museum → die Museen
      1. das Visum → die Visa
  • Nouns from Greek and Latin
      1. das Lexikon → die Lexika
      1. das Thema → die Themen
 

Plural endings in the dative case

In the dative case, most plurals add -n if they don't already end in -n:
  1. mit den Kindern (with the children)
  1. von den Städten (from the cities)
  1. bei den Konzerten (at the concerts)
 

Nouns used only in the plural

Some German nouns only exist in plural form:
  1. die Eltern (parents)
  1. die Leute (people)
 

Article: die is the definite article for all plurals

Regardless of the noun's gender, all plural nouns in German consistently use die as their definite article (in the nominative case).
  1. der Mann (masculine) → die Männer (plural)
  1. die Frau (feminine) → die Frauen (plural)
  1. das Kind (neuter) → die Kinder (plural)