The Fool’s Plural – Do you make this

mistake in German?
Rich / November 9, 2020

I want to quickly explain a mistake which I see ALL THE TIME!

I call it “the fool’s plural.”

Let me explain.

If you have a noun in the dative case, for example due to a preposition or verb that requires the
dative case (like zu, von, helfen or geben), and that noun happens to be plural, then you need to
be extra careful!

There is a rule that says that dative plural nouns add an extra –n unless they have one already.

mit den Blumen with the flowers

mit den Kindern with the children

zu den Anderen to the others

The problem is, lots of nouns form their regular plural form with an –n anyway, so this dative –n
is often invisible:

die Blume the flower

die Blumen the flowers

mit den Blumen with the flowers

Nothing to see here!

The fool’s plural is when you see a dative plural noun and assume the –n is just a regular plural –
n:

der Hund the dog

mit den Hunden with the dogs

Someone might see this and then say:

 Ich mag Hunden! (WRONG!)

They have fallen for the trap and used the fool’s plural! How embarrassing…

I see this especially often with Jahre/Jahren:

das Jahr the year

die Jahre the years

seit vielen Jahren since many years

Wir haben viele Jahre in Berlin verbracht.

We spent many years in Berlin.
(Accusative plural!)

Wir leben seit vielen Jahren in Berlin.

We have been living in Berlin for many years.
(Dative plural!)

Ich habe viele Jahren in Berlin gelebt.

“I have lived in Berlin for many year.”
(WRONG!)

The plural form of Jahr is Jahre. You only use Jahren after the dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit,
nach, seit, von, zu, gegenüber, außer), or the two-way prepositions when there is no movement
(an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen.)

Another common mistake is forgetting the dative –n when there is no article:

English Incorrect German Correct German

with windows mit Fenster (!) mit Fenstern

with children mit Kinder (!) mit Kindern

for years seit Jahre (!) seit Jahren

to friends zu Freunde (!) zu Freunden

Plural Formation
Remember that it’s usually feminine nouns that form their regular plural with –n:

Singular Plural English

die Blume die Blumen flowers

die Katze die Katzen cats

die Fernbedienung die Fernbedienungen remote controls

die Maschine die Maschinen machines

die Banane die Bananen bananas

die Mütter
die Mutter mothers
(but not all feminine nouns!)

By contrast, it’s actually quite rare for masculine and neuter nouns to form their plural with an –n
or –en.

Usually they form their plural with an –e or sometimes other things like an –er, –e + umlaut, an
umlaut on its own, or nothing at all.

Singular Plural English

der Mann die Männer men

der Vater die Väter fathers

der Witz die Witze jokes

das Buch die Bücher books

der Tisch die Tische tables

das Fenster die Fenster windows

das Haus die Häuser houses

der Fuß die Füße feet

der Zahn die Zähne teeth

There’s a nice list of plural rules here.

Don’t forget to add the dative –n to masculine and neuter nouns if necessary, and whatever you
do, don’t confuse it for the regular plural!

Singular Dative Plural English

der Mann mit Männern with men

der Witz von den Witzen from the jokes

das Buch aus Büchern from books

der Tisch auf den Tischen on the tables

das Fenster mit Fenstern with windows

das Haus hinter den Häusern behind the houses

der Fuß unter meinen Füßen under my feet

der Zahn zwischen meinen Zähnen between my teeth

I hope this clears things up. Make sure you never use the fool’s plural again!

Drop me an email at info@learngerman.io if you need any help.

That’s it for today!

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