• In English, the most common way of making a noun plural is to add -s to the end of a word.

• In German, there are a number of different plural endings.

• The definite article for all plural nouns is die.

• It is a good idea to learn the plural endings of nouns at the same time as learning the singular form.

Here are some rules for working out which plural ending to use for specific noun endings:

• Most masculine and neuter nouns add -e:

• der Monat – die Monate

• der Hund – die Hunde

• der Tag – die Tage

• das Jahr – die Jahre

• Sometimes with masculine and neuter nouns an umlaut is added to the vowel:

• der Platz – die Plätze

• der Stuhl – die Stühle

• There are also some masculine and neuter nouns which add -er:

• das Kind – die Kinder

• das Lied – die Lieder

• das Licht – die Lichter

• Again, an umlaut is sometimes added to the first vowel:

• das Buch – die Bücher

• der Mann – die Männer

Work out the plural of these nouns:

• Most feminine and some neuter nouns end in -n or -en in the plural:

• die Frage – die Fragen

• die Zahl – die Zahlen

• die Katze – die Katzen

• das Bett – die Betten

• das Auge – die Augen

• Some feminine, mostly single syllable, nouns add -e in the plural form. This is often with an umlaut on the vowel:

• die Hand – die Hände

• die Stadt – die Städte

• Female occupation nouns ending -in add -nen in the plural:

• die Lehrerin – die Lehrerinnen

There are some exceptions to the above when forming plural nouns:

• Feminine and neuter nouns ending in -nis add -se for the plural, eg Verständis – Verständisse

• Words which have been borrowed from other languages often add -s, eg Hotel – Hotels.

• Some masculine people nouns add -en in the plural, eg Student – Studenten, Kollege – Kollegen and Herr – Herren.

• Nouns ending in -el, -en or -er are the same in both singular and plural, eg der Artikel – die Artikel, der Kuchen – die Kuchen, das Theater – die Theater. Just remember to change the definite article to die.

Identify the plural forms of the nouns below: