Nouns 4 (Noun Endings)

Singular and Plural

• A few nouns have no distinctive plural forms:
  • das Fräulein (sg); die Fräulein (pl)
  • das Fenster(sg); die Fenster (pl)

• Some nouns have a plural ending:
  • das Kind (sg); die Kinder (pl)
  • der Mensch (sg); die Menschen (pl)
  • der Tag (sg); die Tage (pl)
• Some nouns have a vowel change (umlaut) in the plural:
  • die Mutter (sg); die Mütter (pl)
  • der Vater (sg); die Väter (pl)
• Some nouns have both a vowel change and a plural ending:
  • das Volk (sg); die Völker; (pl)
  • der Mann (sg); die Männer (pl)

Case Endings:

Some nouns have an ending for the genitive: –es, –s, or –ns or -ens

All nouns take an –n or –en in the dative plural (unless they already end in –n or s).

N-Nouns a small group of Masculine nouns add –n or –en to the Gen, Dat, and Acc forms of the nouns in the singular.

The dictionary normally indicates the genitive and the plural ending for nouns; e.g. Volk (nt) -s, ö-er (often only the umlaut without the vowel is indicated). This means the nom. sg. is “das Volk,” the gen. sg. is “des Volks,” and the nom. pl. is die Völker.

Study the paradigms again under “Nouns 2” or “Nouns 3” and note the various noun endings and the vowel changes.

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