Appearance
Guessing Plurals
You can't always be sure — but you can guess right most of the time.
Maskulin Feminin Neutrum Plural
Can you predict a plural?
German plurals look random, but they are far more predictable than learners fear. The trick is a two-step check: first the gender, then the ending. These rules won't be right 100% of the time, so you should still learn the plural with each new word — but they let you make a confident guess when you meet a word for the first time.
This page is the companion to Plural Formation, which lists the five endings themselves.
This page is the companion to Plural Formation, which lists the five endings themselves.
Step 1 — start with the gender
Each gender has a strong default. Feminine is by far the most reliable — roughly 90% of feminine nouns simply take -(e)n.
| Gender | Usual plural | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Feminin | -(e)n | die Frau → die Frauen · die Uhr → die Uhren |
| Maskulin | -e (often + umlaut) | der Tisch → die Tische · der Stuhl → die Stühle |
| Neutrum | -e or -er | das Jahr → die Jahre · das Kind → die Kinder |
die Frau → die Frauen · die Blume → die Blumen
the women · the flowers
Feminin is the safe bet: almost always -(e)n. If you know a noun is feminin, guess -(e)n and you'll usually be right.
Step 2 — the ending gives it away
The ending of a noun is the strongest clue of all. These suffix rules are close to 100% reliable.
| Ends in… | Plural | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -e (feminin) | -n | die Lampe → die Lampen |
| -in | -innen | die Lehrerin → die Lehrerinnen |
| -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft | -en | die Zeitung → die Zeitungen · die Freiheit → die Freiheiten |
| -ion, -tät, -ik, -ur | -en | die Nation → die Nationen · die Universität → die Universitäten |
| -er, -en, -el (m/n) | — (no ending) | der Lehrer → die Lehrer · der Onkel → die Onkel |
| -chen, -lein | — (no change) | das Mädchen → die Mädchen |
| -um (Latin) | -en (drop -um) | das Museum → die Museen · das Datum → die Daten |
| a vowel / a foreign word | -s | das Auto → die Autos · das Baby → die Babys |
die Zeitung, die Freiheit, die Möglichkeit, die Nation → …-en
newspapers, freedoms, possibilities, nations
This is the best gift in the language: nouns ending in -ung, -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ion, -tät are all feminin and all take -en. One ending tells you both the gender and the plural.
No ending — the "invisible" plurals
Masculine and neuter nouns ending in -er, -en, -el usually don't change at all in the plural — only the article (die) tells you it's plural. The same is true for the little diminutives in -chen and -lein, which are always neuter.
der Lehrer → die Lehrer · das Fenster → die Fenster · der Wagen → die Wagen
the teachers · the windows · the cars
Same word, plural article: der Lehrer → die Lehrer. Watch the article to know it's plural.
das Mädchen → die Mädchen · das Brötchen → die Brötchen
the girls · the bread rolls
Diminutives in -chen / -lein never change — and they are always neutrum (das Mädchen), whatever they mean.
The umlaut trick
When a plural takes an umlaut, only the vowels a, o, u change (a → ä, o → ö, u → ü); au becomes äu. Vowels like e or i never take an umlaut.
Umlauts are common in two places: masculine -e plurals and neuter -er plurals. A small set of the no-ending nouns umlaut too (der Vater → die Väter).
Umlauts are common in two places: masculine -e plurals and neuter -er plurals. A small set of the no-ending nouns umlaut too (der Vater → die Väter).
der Stuhl → die Stühle · der Sohn → die Söhne · der Ball → die Bälle
chairs · sons · balls
Many one-syllable masculine nouns take ¨-e: u → ü, o → ö, a → ä.
das Buch → die Bücher · das Haus → die Häuser
books · houses
Neutrum -er plurals almost always umlaut. Note au → äu: Haus → Häuser.
The exceptions worth memorizing
A handful of very common feminin one-syllable nouns break the "-(e)n" rule and take ¨-e instead. They're frequent, so learn them as a small set:
die Hand → die Hände · die Stadt → die Städte · die Nacht → die Nächte · die Maus → die Mäuse · die Kuh → die Kühe · die Wurst → die Würste
And two feminine "-er" words just take an umlaut, no ending: die Mutter → die Mütter · die Tochter → die Töchter.
die Hand → die Hände · die Stadt → die Städte · die Nacht → die Nächte · die Maus → die Mäuse · die Kuh → die Kühe · die Wurst → die Würste
And two feminine "-er" words just take an umlaut, no ending: die Mutter → die Mütter · die Tochter → die Töchter.
The 30-second guessing routine
1. Feminin? → probably -(e)n (die Frau → Frauen).
2. Ends in -ung / -heit / -keit / -schaft / -ion / -tät? → -en, and it's feminin.
3. Masculine, one syllable? → often ¨-e (der Stuhl → Stühle).
4. Ends in -er / -en / -el / -chen? → usually no change (der Lehrer → Lehrer).
5. Foreign word or ends in a vowel? → -s (das Auto → Autos).
Related
- Plural Formation — the five plural endings and the Dativ-plural -n
- Guessing Genders — how to guess der, die or das in the first place
- Nominativ — articles and grammatical gender