The Plural of German Nouns

It’s one of those points in German grammar that often frustrates learners: forming the plural of nouns. Unlike English, where the plural is usually formed simply by adding an s to the noun, the German language has a multitude of rules and exceptions. In this article, we’ll take a look at the most common patterns and peculiarities of plural formation in German.

Forming Plurals with -e

One of the most common ways to form plurals in German is by adding e at the end. This pattern is particularly prevalent among short masculine nouns and is also commonly used with short neuter nouns:

• der Hund → die Hunde
  (the dog → the dogs)
• der Tag → die Tage
  (the day → the days)
• der Schuh → die Schuhe
  (the shoe → the shoes)
• das Spiel → die Spiele
  (the game → the games)
• das Tier → die Tiere
  (the animal → the animals)

With masculine nouns, the vowel of the word stem is often changed to an umlaut:

• der Ball → die Bälle
  (the ball → the balls)
• der Zug → die Züge
  (the train → the trains)
• der Baum → die Bäume
  (the tree → the trees)

There are also some feminine nouns that form the plural with the ending e. In these cases, the vowels a, o, u, and au are always changed to an umlaut:

• die Stadt → die Städte
  (the city → the cities)
• die Hand → die Hände
  (the hand → the hands)
• die Maus → die Mäuse
  (the mouse → the mice)

Feminine and neuter nouns that end in nis form their plural with se. This means that the final s is doubled before adding the ending e:

• die Befugnis → die Befugnisse
  (the permission → the permissions)
• die Kenntnis → die Kenntnisse
  (the knowledge → the knowledges)
• das Ergebnis → die Ergebnisse
  (the result → the results)
• das Geheimnis → die Geheimnisse
  (the secret → the secrets)

Also in some other nouns that end in s following a short vowel, the s is also doubled before adding the ending e:

• der Bus → die Busse
  (the bus → the buses)

Forming Plurals with -er

Most short neuter nouns form their plural by adding er:

• das Bild → die Bilder
  (the picture → the pictures)
• das Kind → die Kinder
  (the child → the children)
• das Licht → die Lichter
  (the light → the lights)

With nouns that form their plural according to this pattern, the vowels a, o, u, and au are always changed to an umlaut:

• das Buch → die Bücher
  (the book → the books)
• das Glas → die Gläser
  (the glass → the glasses)
• das Wort → die Wörter
  (the word → the words)

There are also some masculine nouns that form their plural with the ending er:

• der Mann → die Männer
  (the man → the men)
• der Wald → die Wälder
  (the forest → the forests)
• der Gott → die Götter
  (the god → the gods)

However, there are no feminine nouns that form their plural according to this pattern.

Forming Plurals with -n

In particular feminine nouns form their plural with the ending n when their singular ends in e, el, or er:

• die Katze → die Katzen
  (the cat → the cats)
• die Tafel → die Tafeln
  (the board → the boards)
• die Schwester → die Schwestern
  (the sister → the sisters)

Also, most masculine nouns ending in e form their plural with n:

• der Junge → die Jungen
  (the boy → the boys)
• der Löwe → die Löwen
  (the lion → the lions)
• der Name → die Namen
  (the name → the names)

For neuter nouns ending in e, the plural is sometimes formed according to this pattern:

• das Auge → die Augen
  (the eye → the eyes)
• das Ende → die Enden
  (the end → the ends)
• das Interesse → die Interessen
  (the interest → the interests)

Not many, but a few masculine nouns ending in er also form their plural with n:

• der Bauer → die Bauern
  (the farmer → the farmers)
• der Bayer → die Bayern
  (the Bavarian → the Bavarians)

When forming the plural with n, the vowels a, o, and u are never changed to umlauts.

Forming Plurals with -en

Feminine nouns that do not end in e, el, or er often form their plural with the ending en:

• die Frau → die Frauen
  (the woman → the women)
• die Uhr → die Uhren
  (the clock → the clocks)
• die Tür → die Türen
  (the door → the doors)

Feminine nouns ending in ung, heit, keit, ion, or tät always form their plural according to this pattern:

• die Übung → die Übungen
  (the exercise → the exercises)
• die Freiheit → die Freiheiten
  (the freedom → the freedoms)
• die Fähigkeit → die Fähigkeiten
  (the ability → the abilities)
• die Nation → die Nationen
  (the nation → the nations)
• die Aktivität → die Aktivitäten
  (the activity → the activities)

Some masculine and neuter nouns also form their plurals with en:

• der Mensch → die Menschen
  (the human → the humans)
• der Prinz → die Prinzen
  (the prince → the princes)
• das Bett → die Betten
  (the bed → the beds)
• das Hemd → die Hemden
  (the shirt → the shirts)

Masculine nouns referring to people and ending in ist, at, et, or or also form their plural with en:

• der Komponist → die Komponisten
  (the composer → the composers)
• der Soldat → die Soldaten
  (the soldier → the soldiers)
• der Poet → die Poeten
  (the poet → the poets)
• der Professor → die Professoren
  (the professor → the professors)

For feminine nouns referring to people and ending in in, the final n is doubled before adding the ending en. In other words, the ending nen is added:

• die Lehrerin → die Lehrerinnen
  (the female teacher → the female teachers)
• die Schülerin → die Schülerinnen
  (the female student → the female students)
• die Freundin → die Freundinnen
  (the female friend → the female friends)

For many Latin loanwords ending in um, this ending is replaced by en:

• das Museum → die Museen
  (the museum → the museums)
• das Datum → die Daten
  (the date → the dates)
• das Medium → die Medien
  (the medium → the media)

When forming the plural with en, the vowels a, o, and u are almost never changed to umlauts.

Forming Plurals with -s

Nouns ending in a, i, o, or y usually form their plural by adding s:

• das Sofa → die Sofas
  (the sofa → the sofas)
• das Taxi → die Taxis
  (the taxi → the taxis)
• das Auto → die Autos
  (the car → the cars)
• das Baby → die Babys
  (the baby → the babies)

In contrast to English, y is not changed to ie, even if the word is an English loanword.

In the case of English and French loanwords, the plural is often formed with s regardless of the ending:

• der Job → die Jobs
  (the job → the jobs)
• der Cousin → die Cousins
  (the cousin → the cousins)

The plural of most abbreviations is also formed with s:

• die CD → die CDs
  (the CD → the CDs)
• der LKW → die LKWs
  (the truck → the trucks)

The plural of family names is also formed by adding s to refer to multiple members of the family:

• die Hubers
  (the Hubers = members of the Huber family)

When forming the plural with s, the vowels a, o, and u are not changed into umlauts.

Plurals without Endings

Many masculine and neuter nouns ending in el, en, or er do not have a dedicated plural ending, so they’re identical in form to the singular:

• der Löffel → die Löffel
  (the spoon → the spoons)
• der Kuchen → die Kuchen
  (the cake → the cakes)
• das Fenster → die Fenster
  (the window → the windows)

Also, diminutives formed with chen or lein remain unchanged in the plural:

• das Kätzchen → die Kätzchen
  (the little cat → the little cats)
• das Büchlein → die Büchlein
  (the little book → the little books)

While masculine and feminine nouns ending in e usually form their plural by adding n, many neuter nouns ending in e stay the same in the plural:

• das Gebäude → die Gebäude
  (the building → the buildings)
• das Gemüse → die Gemüse
  (the vegetable → the vegetables)

However, singular and plural are often distinguished by changing a vowel to an umlaut:

• der Vater → die Väter
  (the father → the fathers)
• der Garten → die Gärten
  (the garden → the gardens)
• der Apfel → die Äpfel
  (the apple → the apples)

In feminine nouns that form the plural without an ending, a, o, u, and au are always changed to an umlaut:

• die Mutter → die Mütter
  (the mother → the mothers)
• die Tochter → die Töchter
  (the daughter → the daughters)

The umlaut in feminine nouns is necessary to distinguish the plural from the singular. For masculine and neuter nouns, the distinction is also possible based on the different singular and plural article.

Irregular Plurals

Finally, there are also some nouns with an irregular plural that does not fit into any of the patterns:

• das Visum → die Visa
  (the visa → the visas)
• das Praktikum → die Praktika
  (the internship → the internships)
• die Praxis → die Praktiken
  (the practice → the practices)
• die Firma → die Firmen
  (the company → the companies)
• das Thema → die Themen
  (the topic → the topics)
• die Pizza → die Pizzen
  (the pizza → the pizzas)
• der Index → die Indizes
  (the index → the indices)
• das Komma → die Kommata
  (the comma → the commas)

There are a number of other irregular plurals, but it’s not possible to list them all here.

Summary

Forming plurals in German might seem complicated at first, but it follows clear patterns and rules. To help you remember the plural forms more easily, we suggest you revisit this article from time to time and review the rules. This way, you won’t have to memorize the plural of each noun individually.

By internalizing patterns, you’ll learn the various plurals more efficiently and develop a natural sense for them, allowing you to form the correct plural automatically without thinking about it.

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