German Plural Nouns — The Five Patterns
After this lesson you can form the plural of most nouns and recognise the five endings.
Do this first: der, die, das
Übungen
Eight exercises on what you just watched. Get 80% and the lesson is marked done and added to your A1 progress.
1 / 8 · Word order
Put the words in the right order.
I have two children.
2 / 8 · Word order
Put the words in the right order.
The women work here.
3 / 8 · Choose
What is the plural of das Buch?
4 / 8 · Choose
What is the plural of der Hund?
5 / 8 · Choose
What is the plural of das Kind?
6 / 8 · Choose
What is the plural of die Frau?
7 / 8 · Choose
What is the plural of das Auto?
8 / 8 · Choose
What is the plural of der Apfel?
In short
German has five plural endings — -e, -er, -(e)n, -s and no ending at all — and many plurals also add an umlaut (Buch → Bücher). Every plural noun takes die, whatever its singular gender.
How it works
German plurals are not formed by one rule the way English adds -s. There are five patterns, and which one a noun takes has to be learned with the word. The good news is that the article is free: every plural noun, regardless of gender, takes die. Der Hund becomes die Hunde; das Buch becomes die Bücher.
The five endings are -e (der Hund → die Hunde, der Tag → die Tage), -er (das Kind → die Kinder, das Buch → die Bücher), -(e)n (die Frau → die Frauen, die Blume → die Blumen), -s (das Auto → die Autos), and nothing at all (das Fenster → die Fenster).
Layered on top is the umlaut: a becomes ä, o becomes ö, u becomes ü. Buch becomes Bücher, Apfel becomes Äpfel, Mutter becomes Mütter. It appears most often with the -e and -er patterns and almost never with -(e)n or -s. There are tendencies worth knowing — feminine nouns overwhelmingly take -(e)n, neuter nouns often take -er, and foreign borrowings take -s — but the only reliable method is to learn the plural alongside the article when you first meet the word.
| Ending | Singular | Plural | Typical of |
|---|---|---|---|
| -e | der Hund | die Hunde | many masculine nouns |
| -e + umlaut | der Stuhl | die Stühle | masculine with a, o, u |
| -er | das Kind | die Kinder | many neuter nouns |
| -er + umlaut | das Buch | die Bücher | neuter with a, o, u |
| -(e)n | die Frau | die Frauen | almost all feminine nouns |
| -(e)n | die Blume | die Blumen | feminine ending in -e |
| -s | das Auto | die Autos | loanwords, abbreviations |
| no ending | das Fenster | die Fenster | -er, -en, -el nouns |
| no ending + umlaut | der Apfel | die Äpfel | -el nouns |
| Vowel | Becomes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a | ä | der Apfel → die Äpfel |
| o | ö | der Sohn → die Söhne |
| u | ü | das Buch → die Bücher |
| au | äu | das Haus → die Häuser |
Examples
- Ein Hund, zwei Hunde.One dog, two dogs.
- Das Buch ist neu. Die Bücher sind neu.The book is new. The books are new.
- Ich habe zwei Kinder.I have two children.
- Die Frauen arbeiten hier.The women work here.
- Wir kaufen drei Äpfel.We are buying three apples.
- Die Autos sind teuer.The cars are expensive.
- Die Fenster sind offen.The windows are open.
- Meine Eltern haben zwei Söhne.My parents have two sons.
- Die Häuser hier sind alt.The houses here are old.
- Wie viele Tage hat der Monat?How many days does the month have?
Mistakes to avoid
✗ die Bucher
✓ die Bücher
The umlaut is part of the plural, not optional decoration. Without it the word is simply misspelled.
✗ der Hunde / das Bücher
✓ die Hunde / die Bücher
Every plural takes die. The singular gender is irrelevant once the noun is plural.
✗ die Frauens
✓ die Frauen
German does not stack plural endings, and -s is rare. Feminine nouns take -(e)n and stop there.
✗ zwei Kind
✓ zwei Kinder
German marks the plural on the noun even when a number already makes it obvious — unlike some languages, the noun still changes.
Wortschatz
The words from this lesson.
| der Hund | dog | plural: die Hunde |
| das Buch | book | plural: die Bücher |
| das Kind | child | plural: die Kinder |
| die Frau | woman | plural: die Frauen |
| der Apfel | apple | plural: die Äpfel |
| das Auto | car | plural: die Autos |
| das Fenster | window | plural: die Fenster |
| das Haus | house | plural: die Häuser |
| die Blume | flower | plural: die Blumen |
| der Tag | day | plural: die Tage |
Kulturnotiz
German dictionaries print the plural right beside the article — Buch, das, -es, Bücher — because native speakers regard the plural as part of the word's identity, not a rule you apply. That is the habit to copy: when you write a new noun in your notebook, write all three parts. Das Buch, die Bücher. It costs one extra second and saves you the guesswork every time.
Common questions
+Is there a rule for German plurals?
Only tendencies. Feminine nouns take -(e)n almost without exception; neuter nouns often take -er; loanwords take -s; nouns ending in -er, -en or -el usually add nothing. Beyond that, learn the plural with the word.
+Which article do plurals take?
Always die, whatever the singular gender was. Der Hund, das Buch and die Frau all become die in the plural.
+When does the umlaut appear?
Mostly with the -e and -er patterns, and with some no-ending nouns like Apfel → Äpfel. It never appears with -s, and almost never with -(e)n.
+Why do some nouns look identical in the plural?
Nouns ending in -er, -en or -el often add no ending at all: das Fenster → die Fenster. The article is what tells you it is plural, which is one more reason to learn articles properly.