Noun Plural Forms in German
German Plural Patterns
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When the Plural is Singular > Singular/Plural > Plurals 1 > Plurals 2
The following chart shows the dozen different ways that German nouns can form the plural (die Mehrzahl). All German plurals have the plural article die in the nominative and accusative cases, der in the genitive plural, den in the dative plural. Most German plurals add an extra -n or -en to the plural form in the dative case (if they do not already end in -n or -en). Also see the plural examples on the next page.
Hint: Learning the noun plurals is a lot like learning gender. It is best to simply learn a noun with both its gender and its plural form.
Although there are at least a dozen ways to form the plural in German, beginners should concentrate on the first five or six of the German plural forms listed below. More advanced learners should be aware of all of them. They are ranked here with the more common forms first:
| German Plural Formation | |
| Plural 1 | Add an -e: der Hund - Hunde |
| Plural 2 | Add an -en: die Zeit - Zeiten |
| Plural 3 | No change: das Mädchen - Mädchen |
| Plural 4 | Add an -n: die Kugel - Kugeln |
| Plural 5 | Add ¨er or -er: das Haus - Häuser, das Kleid - Kleider |
| Plural 6 | Add an -s: das Auto - Autos |
| Plural 7 | Stem vowel adds ¨: der Apfel - Äpfel, der Bruder - Brüder |
| Plural 8 | Add an -nen: die Lehrerin - Lehrerinnen |
| Plural 9 | Add an -se: das Erlebnis - Erlebnisse |
| Plural 10 | Add ¨e: der Kran - Kräne |
| Plural 11 | Suffix/ending changes: der Organismus - Organismen, das Museum - Museen |
| Plural 12 | Foreign word plurals: das Prinzip - Prinzipien |
See the next page for more-detailed examples of German plurals...
NEXT > German Plural Forms 2 - with examples
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