Plural der Substantive

learning target

Aim of this section is to learn how to form the plural of a noun.

singular	plural	English
der Junge das Jahr die Tür das Mädchen der Baum das Auto	die Jungen die Jahre die Türen die Mädchen die Bäume die Autos	boy / boys year /years door / doors girl / girls tree / trees car / cars

rules

The rule is:
There is no rule!

No, it's no joke. In English you just add a "s" to form a plural. In German, there are 12 different ways and there aren't really rules which help to know which noun requires which way. You have just one choice. When you learn a new noun learn the noun, the article and the plural form.

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

exercises

	plural exercise				Lösung

summary - documents for your folder

	Plural der Substantive (theory, 3 pages)

Because we haven't added the plural form to the nouns in our vocabulary studies so far we must add it afterwards. You already have the vocabulary list and only need to add the abbreviation.
Besides, I added the plural form to the topics "Familienmitglieder" and "Zeitbegriffe". I think there isn't enough room in your printed sheets to add the abbreviation. That's why you should please print "Familienmitglieder" and "Zeitbegriffe" and throw the old ones away.

	vocabulary list with plurals (6 pages)

	Familienmitglieder with plurals (1 page)

	Zeitbegriffe with plurals (1 page)