German Plural Nouns
Recognise the five plural patterns, make a good guess for new nouns, and add the dative -n without thinking.
English mostly adds -s. German has five plural patterns, and some add an umlaut too: der Apfel becomes die Äpfel.
The good news: the article is always die, and a few rules of thumb predict most plurals.
Learn the plural with the noun
Memorise three things per noun: article, singular, plural. Dictionaries write this as Kind, das, -er.
- The plural article is always die.
- After a number above one, use the plural.
- The umlaut goes on the stressed vowel: a → ä.
Die Kinder schlafen schon.
The children are already asleep.
Wir brauchen noch zwei Stühle.
We still need two chairs.
The five plural patterns
-e (often with umlaut)
- der Tagdie Tage
- der Stuhldie Stühle
- das Jahrdie Jahre
-er (umlaut where possible)
- das Kinddie Kinder
- das Buchdie Bücher
- der Manndie Männer
-n / -en
- die Fraudie Frauen
- die Blumedie Blumen
- die Freundindie Freundinnen-in doubles the n
-s
- das Autodie Autos
- das Hoteldie Hotels
- das Handydie Handys
No ending (sometimes umlaut)
- der Lehrerdie Lehrer
- das Zimmerdie Zimmer
- der Vaterdie Väter
- die Mutterdie Mütter
Rules of thumb for guessing
- Feminine nouns: almost always -n or -en.
- Der/das nouns in -er, -el, -en, -chen: no ending.
- Words ending in -a, -i, -o, -u, -y: -s.
- One-syllable masculine nouns: usually -e, often with umlaut.
Die Zeitungen liegen im Flur.
The newspapers are in the hall.
Meine Brüder wohnen in München.
My brothers live in Munich.
Dative plural adds -n
In the dative plural the noun takes an extra -n. Plurals that already end in -n or -s stay as they are.
Dative plural
- die Kindermit den Kindern
- die Freundemit den Freunden
- die Frauenmit den Frauenalready ends in -n
- die Autosmit den Autosno -n after -s
Am Wochenende spiele ich mit den Kindern.
At the weekend I play with the children.
Das Hotel hat nur Zimmer mit zwei Betten.
The hotel only has rooms with two beds.
Common mistakes
✗
Ich habe zwei Kind.✓ Ich habe zwei Kinder.
After numbers above one, the noun is plural.
✗
zwei Buchs✓ zwei Bücher
Buch takes -er plus umlaut, not English -s.
✗
mit meinen Freunde✓ mit meinen Freunden
Dative plural nouns add -n.
✗
Das Autos sind neu.✓ Die Autos sind neu.
The plural article is always die.
Questions learners ask
How do you make nouns plural in German?
There are five patterns: -e, -er, -n/-en, -s or no ending, sometimes with an umlaut. Learn each plural with the noun and use the rules of thumb for new words.
Why is it den Kindern in the dative?
German adds -n to plural nouns in the dative. It is skipped only when the plural already ends in -n or -s.
Do German plurals use -s like English?
Only a minority do, mainly loanwords and words ending in a vowel like Auto or Handy. Most German nouns use another pattern.