Posted by In case you have ever wondered how plural nouns are formed in German, congratulations! You just found the answer to your “how” in this article. But first of all you’d probably like to know that plural nouns are the multiple forms (two or more) of all singular nouns and how they are formed in German may be dependent on the actual formation of the masculine, feminine and neuter nouns.
How to form the plural of German nouns
In English, plurals are made by adding certain suffixes such as “s” and “es” or “ies” based on certain criteria or even by altering certain vowels and just like some singular nouns, plural nouns can occur naturally i.e without singular forms. Examples include; die Leute, die Eltern, Geschwister etc.
German plural nouns have definite forms just like those of English and are made by attaching certain suffixes such as -e, -er, -en, -n, -s or none at all depending on the end letter(s) of the singular forms as described below.
Plural ending with “-e”
Almost all feminine and neuter nouns that end with “-nis” and “-sal” and masculine nouns that Ende with “-ling”, “-eur”, “-ich”, “-ig”, “-ier”, “-ar”, “-är”, “-an”, “-al”, “-on” and “-or” as well as most one-syllabic nouns that Ende with a consonant take up the plural suffix “-e” in addition to an exchange of vowel from the normal to that of the umlaut counterpart. For example;
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| das Floß | die Flöße | raft(s) |
| das Bein | die Beine | leg(s) |
| die Wand | die Wände | wall(s) |
| die Nacht | die Nächte | night(s) |
| die Hand | die Hände | hand(s) |
| die Nuss | die Nüsse | nut(s) |
| der Arzt | die Ärzte | doctor(s) |
| der Stuhl | die Stühle | chair(s) |
| der Schuh | die Schuhe | shoe(s) |
| der Bart | die Bärte | beard(s) |
| der Bach | die Bäche | creek(s) |
| der Fuß | die Füße | foot(ee) |
| der Tisch | die Tische | table(s) |
| der Arm | die Arme | arm(s) |
| der Hund | die Hunde | dog(s) |
| der Fluss | die Flüsse | river(s) |
| der Schrank | die Schränke | cupboard(s) |
Plural ending with “-er”
Most one-syllabic nouns take up the plural suffix “-er” and an umlaut vowel when possible.
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| das Haus | die Häuser | house(s) |
| das Geld | die Gelder | money(ies) |
| das Kind | die Kinder | child(ren) |
| das Brett | die Bretter | plank(s) |
| das Ei | die Eier | egg(s) |
| das Glas | die Gläser | glass(es) |
| der Mund | die Münder | mouth(s) |
| der Mann | die Männer | man(-e) |
Plural ending with “-en”
Nouns that end with “-r”, “-t”, “-z” and “-ng” as well as Latin words with “-um”, and “-a” ( with few exemptions e.g die Pizza/die Pizzas etc.) form their plural with -en. While the others simply just add up the plural prefix, those with “-um”, and “-a” exchange their suffixes for it. See examples below…
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| der Herr | die Herren | lord(s) |
| die Elefant | die Elefanten | elephant(s) |
| der Präsident | die Präsidenten | president(s) |
| der Prinz | die Prinzen | prince(s) |
| die Milz | die Milzen | spleen(s) |
| die Wohnung | die Wohnungen | apartment(s) |
| die Kleidung | die Kleidungen | cloth(es) |
| die Tür | die Türen | door(s) |
| die Firma | die Firmen | company(-ies) |
| das Ohr | die Ohren | ear(s) |
| das Spielzeug | die Spielzeugen | toy(s) |
| das Thema | die Themen | topic(s) |
| das Medium | die Medien | medium(a) |
| das Datum | die Daten | date(s) |
| das Stadium | die Stadien | stadium(s) |
| das Zentrum | die Zentren | centre(s) |
| das Votum | die Voten/ Vota | vote(s) |
| das Visum | die Visen/ Visa | visa(s) |
| das Ultimatum | die Ultimaten | ultimatum(s) |
Plural ending with “-n”
Words that end with “-e” usually form their plural with the suffix “-n” but with few exemptions e.g das Käse (die Käse). For example;
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| die Gardine | die Gardinen | curtain(s) |
| die Klamotte | die Klamotten | cloth(es) |
| die Tasse | die Tassen | cup(s) |
| die Flasche | die Flaschen | bottle(s) |
| die Orange | die Orangen | orange(s) |
| die Garage | die Garagen | garage(s) |
| die Lampe | die Lampen | lamp(s) |
| die Tasche | die Taschen | bag(s) |
| die Hose | die Hosen | Trouser(s) |
| die Wanne | die Wannen | tub(s) |
| die Bürste | die Bürsten | brush(es) |
| die Weise | die Weisen | meadow(s) |
| der Junge | die Jungen | boy(s) |
| der Löwe | die Löwen | lion(s) |
| der See | die Seen | sea(s) |
| der Hase | die Hasen | hare(s) |
| der Student | die Studenten | student(s) |
Plural ending with “-s”
Latin words that end with “-i”, “-o”, “-y” and “-eau” form their plural with “-s”. See examples below…
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| das Büro | die Büros | office(s) |
| das Radio | die radios | radio(s) |
| das Kilo | die Kilos | kilo(s) |
| das Hotel | die Hotels | hotel(s) |
| das Taxi | die Taxis | taxi(s) |
| das Hobby | die Hobbys | hobby(s) |
| das Handy | die Handys | cellphone(s) |
| das Baby | die Babys | baby(ies) |
| das Plateau | die Plateaus | plateau |
| das Niveau | die Niveaus | level |
Plural without ending
Diminutive nouns with “-chen” and “-lein” as well as nouns that end with “-el”, “-er”, “en” (with some exemptions including substantive infinitive nouns e.g das Kochen, der Charakter/die Charaktere, der Stachel/die Stacheln, der Vetter/die Vettern etc.) don’t take up plural suffixes but often times change their first-syllabic vowel to the umlaut form where possible.
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| der Onkel | die Onkel | uncle(s) |
| der Vogel | die Vögel | bird(s) |
| der Gürtel | die Gürtel | belt(s) |
| der Apfel | die Äpfel | apple(s) |
| der Vater | die Väter | father(s) |
| der Bruder | die Brüder | brother(s) |
| die Mutter | die Mütter | mother(s) |
| die Schwester | die Schwester | sister(s) |
| das Mädchen | die Mädchen | girl(s) |
| das Märchen | die Märchen | fairy(ies) |
| das Pfännchen | die Pfännchen | pan(s) |
| das Häuschen | die Häuschen | small house(s) |
| das Fräulein | die Fräulein | maiden(s) |
| das Büchlein | die Büchlein | booklet(s) |
| das Vöglein | die Vöglein | small bird(s) |
It is important to note that regardless of the plural ending, all plural nouns in the dative case must always end with “-n” except those that already end with “-n”. Hence die Kinder, die Onkel and die Mädchen in the dative becomes den Kindern, den Onkeln and den Mädchen respectively