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Deklination der Substantive


learning target


Aim of this section is to learn the correct use of noun endings.

German

English

Die Farbe des Hauses gefällt mir sehr gut.
Das Auto des Nachbarn ist nagelneu.
Sie geben den Kindern neue Hoffnung.

I like the color of the house.
The neighbor's car is brand-new.
They give the children new hope.



rules


The 4 noun classes

Like adjektives nouns take different endings according to their gender, case and class.
Fortunately, there are just a few endings to learn.

We distinguish between 4 different noun classes:

  • strong nouns
  • weak nouns
  • mixed nouns
  • irregular nouns


strong nouns

Strong nouns are all nouns:


ending scheme

case

singular

plural

male

female

neuter

-

nominative

-

-

-

-

genitive

+(e)s

-

+(e)s

-

dative

-

-

-

+n

accusative

-

-

-

-



examples:


ending "s" or "es"?

Strong male/neuter nouns have either a "s" or "es" as ending in the gentive case:

  • Nouns with 1 syllable and all nouns which end with s, ß, z, x, t or d: add "es"
  • All other nouns with more than one syllable: add "s"

examples:


behaviour of loan words

Some loan words from other languages are a kind of subclass of the strong nouns.
To this group belong all nouns which form the plural by adding "s".
They behave in the singluar like "normal" strong verbs but don't get an additional "n" in the dative plural.

example ending scheme:

case

singular

plural

nominative

das Auto

die Autos

genitive

des Autos

der Autos

dative

dem Auto

den Autos

accusative

das Auto

die Autos


other load words:

der Park
(the park)

das Kino
(the cinema)

das Taxi
(the taxi)

der Krimi
(the crime story)

der Onkel
(the uncle)

das Radio
(the radio)

der Job
(the job)

das Auto
(the car)

das Café
(the café)



weak nouns

Weak nouns are:


ending scheme

case

singular

plural

male

female

neuter

-

nominative

-

-

-

-

genitive

+(e)n

-

-

-

dative

+(e)n

-

-

-

accusative

+(e)n

-

-

-


The declination of weak nouns is also called n-declination
since you have to add (e)n to the male nouns in all cases except from nominative.

examples:


 

Which male nouns are weak?

Male nouns which end with "e".
These are mostly male living beings.


examples:

der Junge
(the boy)

der Neffe
(the nephew)

der Verwandte
(the relative)

der Löwe
(the lion)

der Affe
(the monkey)

der Hase
(the rabbit)

der Kunde
(the customer)

der Kollege
(the colleague)

der Fremde
(the stranger)

der Beamte
(the clerk)

der Erwachsene
(the adult)

der Verlobte
(the fiancé)

der Riese
(the giant)

der Drache
(the dragon)

der Gatte
(the spouse)

der Heilige
(the saint)

der Zeuge
(the witness)

der Süchtige
(the addict)

der Erbe
(the inheritor)

der Bube
(the jack)

der Rivale
(the contender)


exception:

der Käse
(the cheese)



Male nouns which used to end with "e".


examples:

der Held
(the hero)

der Mensch
(the human)

der Nachbar
(the neighbor)

der Graf
(the count)

der Fürst
(the ruler)

der Prinz
(the prince)

der Geck
(the fop)

der Bauer
(the farmer)

der Bär
(the bear)

der Fink
(the finch)

der Spatz
(the sparrow)

der Ochs
(the ox)

der Narr
(the fool)

der Tor
(the sap)

der Hirt
(the herdsman)



Male nouns from Greek or other foreign languages
The following endings are indicator for these words:

  • -ant
  • -ent
  • -ist
  • -oge


examples:

der Student
(the student)

der Tourist
(the tourist)

der Polizist
(the police officer)

der Soldat
(the soldier)

der Präsident
(the president)

der Agent
(the agent)

der Architekt
(the architect)

der Elephant
(the elephant)

der Patient
(the patient)

der Assistent
(the assistant)

der Lieferant
(the deliveryman)

der Terrorist
(the terrorist)

der Diplomat
(the diplomat)

der Dozent
(the lecturer)

der Paragraph
(the paragraph)

der Philosoph
(the philosopher)

der Christ
(the Christ)

der Kamerad
(the companion)



some nationalities / races and culture names


examples:

der Deutsche
(the German)

der Russe
(the Russian)

der Brite
(the Briton)

der Franzose
(the Frenchman)

der Däne
(the Dane)

der Chinese
(the Chinese)

der Schwede
(the Swede)

der Türke
(the Turk)

der Pole
(the Pole)

der Bayer
(the Bavarian)

der Sachse
(the Saxon)

der Preuße
(the Prussian)



some (technic) terms


examples:

der Automat
(the automat)

der Telegraph
(the telegraph)

der Satellit
(the satellite)

der Planet
(the planet)

der Diamant
(the diamond)

der Komet
(the comet)



der Herr


Der Herr (=Mr) is a little exception since you just have to add "n"
in the genitive, dative and accusative (singular) and not "en" as usually.

case

singular

plural

nominative

der Herr

die Herren

genitive

des Herrn

der Herren

dative

dem Herrn

den Herren

accusative

den Herrn

die Herren



mixed nouns

Mixed nouns behave like strong and weak nouns.
They add (e)s in the genitive case of male and neuter nouns (=strong noun behaviour)
but form the plural by adding (e)n (=weak noun behaviour).

ending scheme

case

singular

plural

male

female

neuter

-

nominative

-

-

-

-

genitive

+(e)s

-

+(e)s

-

dative

-

-

-

-

accusative

-

-

-

-


examples:


examples:

der Staat
(the country)

der Direktor
(the headmaster)

der Schmerz
(the pain)

der See
(the lake)

der Mast
(the pylon)

der Vetter
(the cousin)

der Motor
(the engine)

das Ohr
(the ear)

das Ende
(the end)

das Drama
(the drama)

das Bett
(the bed)

das Auge
(the eye)



irregular nouns

There are just a few irregular nouns.
They form the plural by adding (e)n (=weak noun behaviour)
and add (e)n in genitive, dative and accusative case of male nouns (=weak noun behaviour).
What distigiush them from weak nouns is that they add an additional "s" in the genitive case
and the neuter noun (only one: das Herz) behaves similar.


ending scheme

case

singular

plural

male

female

neuter

-

nominative

-

-

-

-

genitive

+(e)ns

-

+(e)ns

-

dative

+(e)n

-

+(e)n

-

accusative

+(e)n

-

-

-


examples:


all irregular nouns:

der Name
(the name)

der Gedanke
(the thought)

der Buchstabe
(the letter)

der Wille
(the will)

der Glaube
(the faith)

der Friede
(the peace)

der Funke
(the spark)

das Herz
(the heart)

 
 



summary

The declination of nouns is not as complicate as it might look.
The things, you have to consider, can be summariezed with a few keypoints.

  • Female nouns don't get an additional ending in the sigular.
    They only have to be considered in the dative plural.


  • The dative plural always ends with "n"
    regardless if it's a strong, weak, mixed or irregular noun.
    Either the noun has already the "n" in the plural form or it gets it from the declination.

  • You have to keep in mind that most of the nouns (=strong nouns)
    get their endings according to this scheme:

case

singular

plural

male

female

neuter

-

nominative

-

-

-

-

genitive

+(e)s

-

+(e)s

-

dative

-

-

-

+n

accusative

-

-

-

-


  • ... and just a few nouns (=weak nouns) get these endings:

case

singular

plural

male

female

neuter

-

nominative

-

-

-

-

genitive

+(e)n

-

-

-

dative

+(e)n

-

-

-

accusative

+(e)n

-

-

-


Keep in mind: Weak nouns form the plural always by adding (e)n.


There are three anomalies which have to be considered:

  • strong nouns which form their plural by adding "s" (no "n" in the dative plural)
  • Der Herr (add only "n" - not "en" - in genitive, dative and accusative)
  • the 8 irregular nouns (add an additional "s" in the genitive case)

case

singular

plural

male

female

neuter

-

nominative

-

-

-

-

genitive

+(e)ns

-

+(e)ns

-

dative

+(e)n

-

+(e)n

-

accusative

+(e)n

-

-

-




 

exercises


Deklination der Substantive 1 (singular nouns)

 

tom homework

 

Lösung

 

Deklination der Substantive 2 (plural nouns)

 

tom homework

 

Lösung

 


summary - documents for your folder


Deklination der Substantive (theory, 8 pages)