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- The answer is YES. In this post, we'll show you how all of these endings can be broken down into just 5 scenarios.
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Master the ways of forming German noun plurals, exceptions, common traps for English speakers and a host of valuable tips.
- What You Need to Know
- How Plural Nouns Work in English
- How Plural Nouns Work in German
- Plurals Guidelines
- Digging Deeper
- German Plurals According to Category
- Plurals According to Gender
- Plurals According to Hierarchical Rules
- Oddball Plurals
- Main Takeaways
Whenever we learn a language — whether our 1st or our 10th — we usually start by learning nouns so that we can label things: table, floor, glass, plate, man, child, dog, tree. Of course, to get anywhere with a language, you can’t just talk about one table, floor, glass, plate, etc. We need to be able to talk about any number of men, children, trees...
Most English noun plurals are formed just by adding an -(e)s: table → tables, glass → glasses. Sometimes we have to change letters, such as ‘y’ to ‘i’ as in baby → babies before adding on the -(e)s plural. Some (but not all — just to keep us on our toes) ‘f’s also change to ‘v’s: wife → wives, wolf → wolves. Then, of course, we have some plurals th...
Most German noun plurals are formed based on how the singular noun sounds. This can be a matter of … 1. spelling (i.e. which suffix the noun has) 2. which syllable is emphasized/accented 3. how long the noun is (e.g. single syllable vs. multi-syllable) For example: 1. most nouns ending in -el, -en, or -erdon’t change in their plural forms 2. most n...
If you memorize a smattering of rules/guidelines and some short lists of key exceptions, you can be a master of German plurals! 1. 80% masculine and 75% neuter nouns take the -e plural 2. 90% feminine nouns take the -(e)n plural. 3. Know the noun’s gender and you’ll know the correct plural form ~80% of the time! Certain suffixes (i.e. endings) alwa...
In this section, we’ll look at noun plurals arranged according to category, gender, and rules AND also delve into the oddballs: 1. nouns without a plural form 2. nouns that exist only as plurals 3. nouns with multiple plurals that mean different things 4. plural nouns that don’t have English equivalents 5. foreign-word plurals
We can examine German noun plurals several different ways (and we will), but one of them is to break things down according to plural type. Which nouns typically take which plural forms? As I mentioned earlier, the number of German noun plurals categories can be interpreted differently. For our purposes here, I will list 6 categories and some except...
Another way to look at German noun plurals is through the lens of each gender. It’s the same information, just organized differently. NOTE: I will exclude the add -scategory from this analysis and talk about it later HERE.
This is my favorite way to think about plurals because, here, we lump nouns together functionally, which crosses gender lines. Here are the fewest number of rules that still cover the vast majority of plurals (if you memorize the short lists of common exceptions, too, we’d be getting pretty darn close to 100%!). Think of these rules as being ‘train...
Since you clearly want to master German noun plurals, let’s cover some other special situations and you will be SET! In the following sections, you’ll learn about 1. foreign word plurals 2. countable vs. uncountable nouns 3. when German vs. English prefers the singular or plural version of a given noun 4. what happens in English & German when no re...
There are 6 main types German plurals: -e, -(e)n, -er, -e + umlaut, -s, and no change.If you know the gender of the singular noun, you can accurately predict the correct plural about 80% of the time (<-- very good reason to learn nouns with their genders!)Certain suffixes (<-- always on polysyllabic nouns) always* take the same plural, regardless of the noun’s gender:With these 4 hierarchical rules, you’ll have German plurals wrapped up!Apr 20, 2023 · Unlike English, where you simply add the suffix -s or -es, German has a complex system for forming plurals, which can be seriously tough for beginners. However, once you understand the rules, you’ll be able to make nouns plural with ease.
German plurals actually have a lot in common with English. In English, most plurals are formed by adding -s to a noun (or at least a variation of that); German does something similar, there are just more variations.
- Fergus O'sullivan
In order to really understand plural forms of nouns, I’m going to teach you several things. First, I’ll lay the groundwork for how plurals act in the German language on a broad scale. Then I will show you the most common ways that singular nouns are changed into their plural forms.
1) You always use the same article "die" for the plural nouns, for example: der Apfel (the apple) --> die Äpfel (the apples) der Wurm (the worm) --> die Würmer (the worms) 2) There is almost no pattern on how to build the plural. But there’s no need to worry, we have solutions! One good habit that can help with this is to learn the plural ...
