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Appendix:German plurals

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German forms the plural in a variety of ways, both by adding endings to the base form, and by mutating (umlauting) the root vowel.

Ending Masculine Feminine Neuter
without umlaut with umlaut without umlaut with umlaut without umlaut with umlaut
-e Hund – Hunde Turm – Türme Wildnis – Wildnisse Hand – Hände Jahr – Jahre Floß – Flöße
-er Geist – Geister Wurm – Würmer -/- -/- Ei – Eier Amt – Ämter
-(e)n Bauer – Bauern -/- Tafel – Tafeln Werkstatt – Werkstätten Ohr – Ohren -/-
-s Kakadu – Kakadus -/- Boa – Boas -/- Radio – Radios -/-
-∅ Bürger – Bürger Vater – Väter Peperoni – Peperoni Mutter – Mütter Messer – Messer Kloster – Klöster

The e-plural

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The majority of masculine and neuter nouns form the plural with -e. For example:

  • der Hund – die Hunde
  • der König – die Könige
  • das Dokument – die Dokumente

In addition feminine nouns ending in -nis or -sal form the plural with -e.

The e-plural with umlaut

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Most masculine nouns form the plural by adding an umlaut and adding -e. Masculine nouns often add umlaut, but not always.

Some feminine nouns form the plural by adding -e and umlauting the vowel:

Feminine nouns with –̈e plural

One neuter noun: Floß (“raft”).

The n-plural

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The majority of feminine nouns form the plural with -en. For these nouns ending in -el, er, or e, only -n is added to the end. These never add umlaut except for Werkstatt.

  • Masculine and neuter nouns ending in unstressed -or. Ex.
    Note that the stress shifts in the plural
  • A small group of neuter nouns have this plural ending:
Neuter nouns with –en plural
  • A small group of masculine nouns have this plural ending:
Masculine nouns with –en plural

Weak Nouns

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A group of masculine nouns adds -(e)n in every case except the masculine singular. This includes nearly every masculine noun ending in -e.

Replacing the ending with -en

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Some nouns, especially those of foreign origin remove their ending and replace it with -en

  • A few feminine nouns replacing -a with -en Ex. Firma – Firmen
Feminine nouns ending in -a with –en plural
  • Feminine nouns ending in -sis and -xis form the plural with -sen and -xen respectively. For example:
    • Basis – Basen
  • Masculine nouns ending in -us and neuter nouns ending in -um. For example:
    • Zentrum – Zentren
    • Rhythmus – Rhythmen
  • A few other foreign nouns:
Nouns replacing ending with –en plural

The r-plural

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Many neuter nouns and a few masculine nouns form the plural with -er. These nouns always add umlaut if possible (the stressed vowel is a, o, au, or u).

The zero-plural

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Nearly all masculine and neuter nouns ending in -en, -er, -el, -chen, or -lein have no plural suffix.

Two neuter nouns (Kloster and Wasser), two feminine nouns (Mutter and Tochter), and the following masculine nouns form the plural solely by adding umlaut.

The s-plural

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Most words borrowed from English or French form the plural by adding -s. In addition acronyms and other parts of speech used as nouns form the plural with -s.

  • die CD – die CDs
  • der Pkw – die Pkws
  • der Akku – die Akkus
  • der Cousin – die Cousins
  • der Job – die Jobs
  • das Handy – die Handys
  • das Lebewohl – die Lebewohls

The s-Plural is used for the identification of family members:

  • die Müllers (multiple people with the last name Müller)

but:

  • der Müller – die Müller (occupation)

References

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George O. Curme (1922) A Grammar of the German Language, Revised edition, New York: The Macmillan Company

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