o -n o -e o -er o -s o – o -e + umlaut o -er + umlaut o - + umlaut - Gender = main indicator o Most masculine and neuter nouns = -e o Plus masculine nouns also take an umlaut 50% of the time o Most of the time (around 90%) feminine nouns take the – (e)n plural - Certain endings/suffixes take the same plural regardless of the gender (these are always polysyllabic nouns) o -e = -nis, -ling, -ig, -ich o -er + umlaut = -tum o No change = -chen, -lein o No change or no change + umlaut = -er, -el, -en Except the feminine version of -er and -el = –(e) n plural without the ‘e’ o -e = –(e) n plural (without doubling the e) - If you don’t recognise the suffix + if it is feminine or in reference to a male then = - (e)n - If you don’t know the gender + it isn’t an exception to a rule + it is monosullable/without a suffix the best bet = -e + umlaut (as most single-syllable noun plurals are this) - Still unsure? Best bet = -e
- Examples of plural endings…
o -n = Elephant/Elephanten o -e = Eierlikör/Eierliköre o -er = Ei/Eier o -s = Auto/Autos o – = Fenster/Fenster o -e + umlaut = Hand/Hände o -er + umlaut = Wort/Wörter o - + umlaut = Shaden/Shäden
- Plurals with no change =
o Only masculine or neuter nouns = ALL feminine words change Most masculine ending with -er, -el, or -en… e.g. Der Sessel (armchair) Der Fahrer (the driver) Der Onkel Der Computer Exceptions include: Der Vetter/die Vettern (Male cousin) Der Stachel/die Stacheln (thorn) Der Charakter/die Charaktere (Character) Der Muskel/die Muskeln (muscle) o All nouns ending with -chen, -lein o Ge…e neuter nouns o Most nouns ending with -el, -er, or -en except feminine ones = -n plural and others just add an umlaut e.g around 20 masculine words (they end with -er, -el, or -en, like the “no change” nouns) e.g. o Vater o Bruder o Garten o Mantel (coat) o Apfel 2 feminine words o Mutter o Tochter 2 Neuter words o Kloster (cloister) o Wasser - Add an -e = o Almost all masculine and neuter nouns All masculine with -eur, -ich, -ier, -ig, -ling, -ör Most masculine words with -är, -ar, -ig, -an, -al, -or, -on…e.g. Der Tisch/die Tisch Der Arm/die Arme Der Hund/die Hunde Der Versuch/die Versuche (attempt) All neuter with -nis, -sal o All feminine and neuter nouns ending in -nis or -sal - Add and -e + umlaut = o Many masculine monosyllabic words…e.g Der Bach/die Bäche (creek) Der Stuhl/die Stühle Der Fuß/die Füße Der Bart/die Bärte o About 30 feminine words o 1 neuter word = Floß (raft) - Add an – ( e) n o Most feminine nouns o Very few masculine and neuter words All masculine that end with e + a handful of others…e.g. ‘weak’ masculine nouns that refer to male people and animals: o Der Affe/die Affen (monkey) o Der Student/die Studenten (male student) Random outliers… o Der Buchstabe/Buchstaben (letter of the alphabet) o Der Friede/Frieden (peace) o Der Funke/Funken (spark) o Der Gedanke/Gedanken (thought) o Der Name/Namen o Der Same/Samen (seed) o Der Fleck/die Flecken (spot/stain) o Der Schmerz/die Schmerzen (pain)
- Add -er + umlaut =
o About 12 masculine words o Many neuter monosyllabic words o No feminine words o E.g. Der Gott/die Götter (God) Der Mann/die Männer (Man) Der Wald/die Wälder (forest) Der Irrtum/die Irrtümer (Error) - Add -s o Only words of foreign origin ending in an -a, -I, -o, -u, -y (all vowels except e)