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German Plural Nouns

☰ List of all topics in the level A1

Level A1 Introduction Unit 1 Alphabet and pronunciation Unit 2 Diphthongs and constant combinations Unit 3 German nouns and their genders Unit 4 Articles in the nominative case Unit 5 Pronouns in the nominative case Unit 6 Verb sein in present Unit 7 Verb sein in imperfect Unit 8 Verb haben Unit 9 Present tense Unit 10 Modal Verbs Unit 11 Nominalization of verbs Unit 12 Adjective endings in nominative case Unit 13 Making plural nouns Unit 14 Numbers in German Unit 15 Accusative case Unit 16 Pronouns in accusative case Unit 17 Prepositions with accusative case Unit 18 Questions with interrogative pronouns Unit 19 Asking questions without interrogative pronouns

This lesson contains the following topics:

1. Nouns that do not change in their plural forms
2. Nouns that add umlaut in their plural forms
3. Nouns that add an ending -e and/or an umlaut to their plural forms
4. Nouns that form plurals by adding endings -n and -en
5. Nouns that form plurals by adding endings -er
6. Nouns that add ending "-s" to their plural forms
7. Plurals that double the last letter
8. Foreign nouns and their plural forms
9. Nouns that are used only in singular
10. Nouns that are used only in plural

The English language generally has two forms for plural nouns, which involve adding either -s or -es to a noun. However, there are exceptions.

In contrast, German has multiple types of plural formations. Sometimes, an ending is added to the singular noun to make it plural. Certain nouns introduce an umlaut, altering the pronunciation, for example, "u" becomes "ü" and "o" becomes "ö." Other nouns combine an ending with an umlaut, and some nouns maintain the same form in their plural version without undergoing any changes.

We will now explore these various forms of noun plurals in more detail.

1. German nouns that do not change in their plural forms

Masculine and neuter nouns with the endings -el, -er, -en, and -lein, do not change in their plural forms.

For example:

2. German nouns that add umlauts in their plural forms

Some masculine nouns with the endings -er and -el, add an umlaut to their vowels to form plural nouns.

For example:

3. Nouns that add an ending -e and/or an umlaut to their plural forms

These are a variety of nouns with no specific endings. Some just add the ending -e, and some also add an umlaut along with the ending -e.

Some examples of such nouns are:

4. Plural formation by adding the endings -n and -en

Masculine and neuter nouns with the endings -ant, -e, -ent, -or, and -ist often form their plurals by adding the ending "-n" or "-en". The plural form in this group is almost always formed "without adding an umlaut".

For instance:

Feminine nouns with endings -au, -e, -heit, -in, -ion, -ik, -keit, -schaft, -tät, and -ung form their plurals by adding the endings "-n" and "-en".

5. Nouns that form plurals by adding the ending -er

The majority of neutral nouns, as well as some masculine nouns, form their plurals by adding the suffix "-er". If there is a vowel that can have the umlauted form (a, o, and u), often an "umlaut is added" to it.

Feminine nouns do not form plurals with the ending -er.

For example:

6. Nouns that add the ending -s to their plural forms

Nouns that end in vowels (i.e., a, i, o, u) and borrowed nouns from the English language form their plurals by adding "-s" at the end of the noun.

For example:

7. Plurals that double the last letter

Neuter nouns with the ending -nis and feminine nouns with the ending -in double the last letter in their plural forms.

Examples:

8. Foreign nouns and their plural forms

Some foreign nouns keep plural endings from their native languages, and some add the German plural ending "-en".

Examples of foreign nouns that have brought their native plural endings:

9. Nouns that are used only in their singular forms

As in any other language, German also has some nouns that are used only in their singular or plural forms.

For example:

10. Nouns that are used only in their plural forms

Some nouns are used only in their plural forms and have no singular forms.

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