German grammar · Beginner (A1)
Plural of nouns
German nouns form their plural in several ways. Learn the main patterns and some rules of thumb to guess the right one.
The main patterns
In the plural, the article is for every gender (in the dative it becomes , see below). The noun itself can change in several ways: it can add an ending, add an umlaut (the two dots on ä, ö, ü), do both, or not change at all.
Because of this, learn each noun with its plural. Dictionaries show it in short form: , -e means the plural is .
| Pattern | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| adds -e | ||
| adds -e and an umlaut | ||
| adds -n or -en | ||
| adds -er (and an umlaut on a, o, u) | ||
| no change | ||
| umlaut only | ||
| adds -s |
Rules of thumb
Most feminine nouns add -n or -en. Feminine nouns ending in -in add -nen: , .
Masculine and neuter nouns ending in -er, -el or -en usually add no ending, and nouns ending in -chen never do: , ; , . Some add an umlaut: , .
Nouns ending in a vowel other than -e (like -a, -i, -o, -y) and many words from English or French add -s: , ; , .
- die Zeitung → die Zeitungenthe newspaper → the newspapers
- die Freundin → die Freundinnenthe (female) friend → the friends
- der Schlüssel → die Schlüsselthe key → the keys
- das Café → die Cafésthe café → the cafés
Plural in the dative
In the dative case (see the page on the dative), plural nouns add an extra -n, unless the plural already ends in -n or -s.
- Ich spiele mit den Kindern.I'm playing with the children.
- Wir wohnen in einem Haus mit drei Zimmern.We live in a house with three rooms.
- Ich helfe meinen Freunden.I'm helping my friends.