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Some foreign words have 2
plural forms, the original foreign
ending and a Germanized plural. For example:
Globus > Globen / Globusse
Klima > Klimas / Klimata
Balkon > Balkone / Balkons.
In these instances, both variants
are considered correct.
Hammer's German
Grammar and Usage,
4th ed., by Martin Durrell,
The most authoritative
German grammar reference
written in English.
More
info - Buy
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German nouns
Plural forms
Plural forms & patterns
Whereas in English, plurals are typically formed by adding -s or
-es to a word, German has a number of different ways to designate
plurals. In fact, it is useful to note that very few German nouns
form their plural using an -s suffix.
| - or ¨ |
Nearly all masculine
and neuter nouns that end in -er, -en, -el,
-chen, -lein & collective neuter nouns beginning
with Ge- have plurals that are identical to their singular
forms or that simply add an umlaut.
| der Spanier > die Spanier |
der Wagen > die Wagen |
das Brötchen >
die Brötchen |
| das Mittel > die Mittel |
der Gürtel > die Gürtel |
der Apfel > die Äpfel |
| der Vater > die Väter
|
der Boden > die
Böden |
das Gebirge > die Gebirge |
BUT: der Muskel > die Muskeln
der Bauer > die Bauern
|
| -e
or -¨e |
Approximately 89%
of masculine words, 74% of neuter words, and 25% of feminine
words have the plural form -e or -¨e. Feminine
nouns with the plural -e always take the umlaut. Masculine
nouns often take the umlaut, but not always. Neuter nouns
that have the plural -e rarely take the umlaut.
| die Gans > die Gänse |
die Kraft > die Kräfte |
die Maus > Mäuse |
| der Koch > die Köche |
der Fluss > die Flüsse |
der Tag > die Tage |
| das Dokument > die
Dokumente |
das Gespräch, die
Gespräche |
das Pferd > die Pferde |
NOTE: Nouns ending in -nis add another
-s before the -e suffix in the plural form:
die Erkenntnis > die Erkenntnisse.
|
| -(n)en |
All feminine nouns
ending in -ei, -heit, -keit, -schaft,
-ung have the plural suffix or -en. Feminine
nouns ending in -in add -nen in the plural form.
These never add an umlaut.
| die Bäckerei >
die Bäckereien |
die Krankheit > die
Krankheiten |
die Ähnlichkeit >
die Ähnlichkeiten |
| die Leidenschaft > die Leidenschaften |
die Forschung > die Forschungen |
die Lehrerin > die Lehrerinnen |
|
| -n |
Nearly all masculine
and feminine nouns ending in -e and a handful of neuter
nouns ending in -e add -n in the plural form.
Most feminine nouns ending in -el or -er have
the plural suffix -n. These never add an umlaut.
| der Name > die Namen |
die Blume > die Blumen |
die Frage > die Fragen |
| das Auge > die Augen |
die Feder > die Federn |
die Schachtel > die Schachteln
|
BUT: die Tochter > die Töchter der
Käse > die Käse
NOTE: 73% of all feminine nouns take -n
or -en in their plural form.
|
| -er
or -¨er |
Approximately 21%
of neuter nouns, including those that end in -tum,
have the plural suffix -er or -¨er. A handful
of masculine nouns (2%) also share this form. These always
add an umlaut wherever possible.
| das Bild > die Bilder |
das Kind > die Kinder |
das Gesicht > die Gesichter |
| das Haus > die Häuser |
das Bad > die Bäder |
das Dorf > die Dörfer |
| das Eigentum > die
Eigentümer
|
der Mund > die Münder |
der Wald > die Wälder |
|
| -s |
The -s plural
suffix is added to 1) nouns derived from English, French,
and Dutch, 2) abbreviations used as nouns, 3) names of people,
and 4) nouns that end in an unstressed vowel. These never
add an umlaut.
| der Park > die Parks |
das Menü > die
Menüs |
die DVD > die DVDs |
| der Lkw > die Lkws |
der Ami > die Amis |
der Schmidt > die Schmidts |
| der Oma > die Omas |
die Kamera > die Kameras |
das Video > die Videos |
|
Variations on these forms and alternatives apply to a few foreign-derived
words, particularly those of Greek and Latin origin:
|
Most words
ending in -um change their ending to -en in
the plural. Words ending in -os, -us, -is
or -a may also take the plural form -en. Other Greek-, Latin-, and Italian-derived words,
typically specialized words from fields such as music, medicine,
law, and linguistics, maintain their foreign plurals:
| das Datum > die Daten |
das Studium > die Studien |
das Museum > die Museen |
| die Villa > die Villen
|
der Rhythmus > die
Rhythmen |
das Epos > die Epen |
| die Praxis > die Praxen |
der Modus > die Modi |
der Numerus > die Numeri |
| der Genus > die Genera |
das Tempus > die Tempora |
das Lexikon > die Lexika |
|
Plural patterns
According to the Duden Grammatik, two basic rules apply
to approximately 85% of noun plurals in German:
1. Masculine and neuter nouns form their plural with -e or
have no ending. If the end syllable of the word contains an -e
(either -e or -e + consonant), no -e
is added in the plural form.
2. Masculine nouns that end in -e and feminine nouns form
their plural with -en. If the end syllable of the word contains
an -e (either -e or -e + consonant),
the -en is shortened to -n.
Two additional rules allow plural forms to be predicted with even higher accuracy:
3. Words ending in an unstressed syllable made up of a
vowel or diphthong take the plural form -s.
4. Nouns that end in -e or -e + consonant will
not have an -er plural form.
Identifying
nouns | Nouns and gender
| Gender patterns | Nouns
with 2 genders | Compound
nouns
Plural forms | Plural
patterns | Weak nouns
| Adjectival nouns | Infinitive
nouns
GRAMMAR INDEX
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