The nouns in German are always capitalized. Nouns can be a being, a place, or a thing.
German
English
die Ferien
the holidays
Gender of German Nouns
Rule 1: All German nouns have gender and can be masculine, feminine, or neuter. Each noun possesses an article indicating the gender:
Masculine:
German
English
der Mann
the man
Feminine:
German
English
die Frau
the woman
Neutral:
German
English
das Kind
the kid
It is often very hard to determine the noun's gender just by looking at it, so you have to learn a new noun along with its article (der, die, das).
Number of German Nouns
Rule 2: Most German nouns have a singular and a plural form. When using the plural form, it is no longer necessary to distinguish between "der", "die" and "das". It will always be die.
German
English
der Mann ➝ die Männer
The man ➝ the men
Forming Plural Nouns
Rule 3: Most words become plural by adding letters at the end of the word and/or with a change of vowel. It's best to learn a new noun along with its plural form.
Plural nouns ending with -n/-en
Rule 4: Most nouns form their plural by adding letters to the end of the word. These groups have the plural ending -n or -en:
- male nouns ending in -ent, -ant, -and, -or and -ist
German
English
der Student ➝ die Studenten
the student ➝ the students
- female nouns ending in -in, -ion, -ik, -ung, -tät, -schaft, -keit and -heit
German
English
die Wohnung ➝ die Wohnungen
the apartment ➝ the apartments
- 99% of all nouns ending in -e
German
English
die Rede ➝ die Reden
the speech ➝ the speeches
Plural nouns ending with -e
Rule 5: These groups have the plural ending -e :
- most male nouns
German
English
der Tag ➝ die Tage
the day ➝ the days
- many female nouns with single syllable
German
English
die Stadt ➝ die Städte
the city ➝ the cities
*Sometimes an umlaut (¨) can be added as seen above.
Plural nouns ending with -r/-er
Rule 6: Noun groups forming the plural with -r or -er mostly fulfill all of these conditions:
- they are neutral
- they have a single syllable
- they are usually formed with an umlaut
German
English
das Glas ➝ die Gläser
the glass ➝ the glasses
das Haus ➝ die Häuser
the house ➝ the houses
Plural nouns ending with -s
Rule 7: These groups have the plural ending -s:
- all nouns ending in -a, -i, -o, -u or -y
German
English
die Oma ➝ die Omas
the grandmother ➝ the grandmothers
- many foreign words
German
English
der Song ➝ die Songs
the song ➝ the songs
- family names
German
English
die Müllers
the Müllers
Plural nouns without an ending
Rule 8: Some nouns do not change in the plural:
- masculine nouns ending in -el, -er and -en
German
English
der Teller ➝ die Teller
the plate ➝ the plates
- neutral nouns ending in -lein and -chen
German
English
das Mädchen ➝ die Mädchen
the girl ➝ the girls
*Be careful. Sometimes an umlaut (¨) can also be added!
German
English
der Vogel ➝ die Vögel
the bird ➝ the birds
Nouns Without a Plural Form
Rule 9: Some nouns have no plural. They only exist in the singular form.
Either these nouns have a plural meaning in the singular:
German
English
das Obst, das Gemüse
the fruits, the vegetables
Or these nouns are innumerable:
German
English
die Milch, das Glück
the milk, the luck
Nouns Without a Singular Form
Rule 10: Some nouns have no singular. They exist only in the plural form:
German
English
die Eltern
the parents
die Leute
the people