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GRAMMAR
2
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| NOUNS — Part 7 |
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But how can I identify plural forms in German? |
| Plural forms of nouns | |
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In
English, the plural form of a noun is generally formed by adding
an "s" to the singular form. - Adding an ending such as -e, -er, -en, -n, or -s. - Adding no ending because the singular and plural noun forms are identical. - Adding an umlaut to the stem vowel. Because dictionaries list only singular verb forms, you may have to reconstruct this form from the plural at hand to be able to look up the definition. |
| Hints only (not rules!) | ||||
| 1. | No ending |
—
|
der Arbeitgeber - die Arbeitgeber |
nouns with ending -el, -en, -er, -chen, -lei |
| No ending + umlaut |
"
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der Vater- die Väter | ||
| 2. | Ending -(e)n |
-n
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die
Frau - die Frauen |
most of the feminine nouns; nouns with the ending -or |
| 3. |
Ending -e |
-e
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der Hund - die Hunde |
masc./fem./neut. |
| Ending -e + umlaut |
"e
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der Abschluss- die Abschlüsse | ||
| 4. | Ending -er |
-er
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das
Kind - die Kinder |
neuter nouns and some masc. nouns |
| Ending -er + umlaut |
"er
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das Buch - die Bücher | ||
| 5. | Ending -s |
-s
|
der
Streik - die Streiks |
many foreign words and nouns with the ending -a, -i, -o |
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I don't think I'll have a problem finding the word "Frauen" in the dictionary, even if it is the plural form of a noun. |
| Plural forms with umlaut | |
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True, but nouns that form the plural with an umlaut can be tricky to find in a dictionary. So, if you're having trouble looking up a plural form with an umlaut, consider that you may need the singular form after all. Later
in the course, when we read texts in more detail, you may want
to learn the other plural forms. |
das Haus 
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