The 12 ways to form a plural in German

 

The 12 ways to form a plural in German

1. way: add an "e" to the noun

singular	plural	translation
der Schuh	die Schuhe	shoe / shoes
das Wort	die Worte	word / words
das Problem	die Probleme	problem / problems

2. way: add a "n" to the noun

singular	plural	translation
die Straße	die Straßen	street / streets
die Schule	die Schulen	school / schools
der Name	die Namen	name / names

3. way: add a "s" to the noun

singular	plural	translation
der Park	die Parks	park / parks
das Hotel	die Hotels	hotel / hotels
die Kamera	die Kameras	camera / cameras

4. way: add an "en" to the noun

singular	plural	translation
der Student	die Studenten	student / students
das Bett	die Betten	bed / beds
die Tür	die Türen	door / doors

5. way: add a "er" to the noun

singular	plural	translation
das Ei	die Eier	egg/ eggs
das Kind	die Kinder	child / children
der Geist	die Geister	ghost / ghosts

6. way: add a "se" to the noun

singular	plural	translation
das Zeugnis	die Zeugnisse	school report / school reports
das Erlebnis	die Erlebnisse	experience / experiences
das Verhältnis	die Verhältnisse	relationship / relationships

7. way: add a "nen" to the noun

singular	plural	translation
die Freundin	die Freundinnen	friend / friends (female)
die Ärztin	die Ärztinnen	doctor / doctors (female)
die Studentin	die Studentinnen	student / students (female)

8. way: add nothing to the noun. Singluar and plural are the same

singular	plural	translation
der Fehler	die Fehler	mistake / mistakes
der Schüler	die Schüler	pupil / pupils
das Fenster	die Fenster	window / windows

9. way: change the stem vowel

singular	plural	translation
die Tochter	die Töchter	daughter/ daughters
der Vater	die Väter	father / fathers
der Bruder	die Brüder	brother / brothers

10. way: change the stem vowel and add an "e" to the noun

singular	plural	translation
der Fuß	die Füße	foot / feet
die Stadt	die Städte	city / cities
der Sohn	die Söhne	son / sons

11. way: change the stem vowel and add an "er" to the noun

singular	plural	translation
das Wort	die Wörter	word / words
der Mann	die Männer	man / men
das Buch	die Bücher	book / books

12. way: irregular change of the noun

singular	plural	translation
das Datum	die Daten	date / dates
der Bus	die Busse	bus / buses
die Firma	die Firmen	company / companies

last hints

As you already recognized the article of the plural nouns always is: die It doesn't matter if the singular form has "der", "die" or "das" for an article.

When we learn a new word I will always give you the plural form too. To save space we will shorten the plural form this way: plural form abbreviation add an "e" +e add a "n" +n add a "s" +s add an "en" +en add an "er" +er add an "se" +se add an "nen" +nen add nothing same stem vowel change ¨ stem vowel change and add an "e" ¨, e stem vowel change and add an "er" ¨, er irregular change the word itself noun has no plural form no If there is more than one vowel in a noun then I marked the vowel which has to be changed: der Anzug -> die Anzüge (suit/suits) marked as: ¨ (2nd), +e

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