# German plurals: rules, examples, and exceptions

Use these common patterns to learn how to make German plurals!

Two is often better than one. 👯‍♀️ Think about it—two heads, double the cookies, twice the puppies! But if you want to talk about more than one of _anything_ in German, it’s tricky! That’s why we're putting our two heads together to bring you some tips for German pluralization patterns, starting with the basics.

### In this post:

- [When to add _-n_/ _-en_](https://blog.duolingo.com/german-plurals/#when-to-addn-oren)
- [When to add _-s_](https://blog.duolingo.com/german-plurals/#when-to-adds)
- [When to add _-e_](https://blog.duolingo.com/german-plurals/#when-to-adde)
- [When there is no ending](https://blog.duolingo.com/german-plurals/#when-no-ending-is-added)
- [When to add _-er_](https://blog.duolingo.com/german-plurals/#when-to-adder)

## German plurals 101

Here are two facts you can count on with German plurals:

1. the definite determiner will always be “die” ( [in nominative](https://blog.duolingo.com/what-are-noun-cases/))

2. the noun itself with be affected in one of four ways:
   - change to the noun ending
   - umlaut of the stem vowel
   - change to the noun ending + umlaut of the stem vowel
   - no change to the noun at all

That’s where the certainty stops, but luckily there are some fairly reliable patterns for you to learn.

### When to add _-n_ or _-en_

Good news! An estimated 90% of **feminine** nouns form the plural by adding **_-n_** or **_-en_**… but some **masculine** and **neuter** nouns do as well.

For _most_ nouns ending in **_-e_**, simply add _**-n**_ to the singular noun (and remember to use _die_ for all plurals in nominative case!).

| Singular | Plural |
| --- | --- |
| die Pflanze (the plant) | die Pflanzen (the plants) |
| das Auge (the eye) | die Augen (the eyes) |
| der Junge (the boy) | die Jungen (the boys) |

The **_-n_** ending also appears for feminine nouns ending in **_-er_** or **_-el_**:

| Singular | Plural |
| --- | --- |
| die Feder (the feather) | die Federn (the feathers) |
| die Nadel (the needle) | die Nadeln (the needles) |

As for the _**-en**_ pattern, use it for the majority of feminine nouns that _don’t_ end in **_-e_**:

| Singular | Plural |
| --- | --- |
| die Frau (the woman) | die Frauen (the women) |
| die Uhr (the clock) | die Uhren (the clocks) |

To make sure it’s not too easy 😅 a couple of **masculine** and **neuter** nouns also take the **_-en_** plural ending—you’ll need to memorize those:

| Singular | Plural |
| --- | --- |
| der Staat (the state) | die Staaten (the states) |
| das Bett (the bed) | die Betten (the beds) |

### When to add _-s_

German words that end in **a vowel other than _-e_** (so, **_-a_**, **_-i_**, **_-o_**, **_-u_**, or _**-y**_) _usually_ add an **_-s_** to form the plural:

| Singular | Plural |
| --- | --- |
| der Papa (the dad) | die Papas (the dads) |
| die Kamera (the camera) | die Kameras (the cameras) |
| das Auto (the car) | die Autos (the cars) |

This is not a strict rule, so don’t be surprised if you come across exceptions. Looking at you, Pizzen! 🍕🍕

## German plurals 201

Are you still with us? 🫣 Great, because it’s time to add more **noun endings** and **umlauts** into the pluralization mix!

**Umlauts** are vowels that have undergone a shift, causing the letters **a**, **o** and **u** to be pronounced closer to the front of the mouth. This change is represented by two small dots above the vowels: **ä**, **ö** and **ü**.

### When to add _-e_

Many **masculine** nouns and some **neuter** nouns form their plural by adding an **_-e_**:

| Singular | Plural |
| --- | --- |
| der Hund (the dog) | die Hunde (the dogs) |
| das Brot (the bread) | die Brote (the breads) |

Even a few **feminine** nouns take this ending:

| Singular | Plural |
| --- | --- |
| die Hand (the hand) | die Hände (the hands) |
| die Kuh (the cow) | die Kühe (the cows) |

Wait a second—you might be saying—something’s different here! Good catch! If you look closely, you’ll notice that the **stem vowels** become **umlauts** in the plural. This will _always_ be the case for feminine nouns that add an **_-e_** in the plural, if the vowel is umlautable.

💡

Remember that only _**a**_, _**o**_, and _**u**_ are **umlautable** in German.

**Masculine** and **neuter** nouns that add **_-e_** aren’t immune to this **umlaut** process. Compare the plurals of _der_ _Hund_ and _das Brot_ above with these:

| Singular | Plural |
| --- | --- |
| der Hut (the hat) | die Hüte (the hats) |
| der Wolf (the wolf) | die Wölfe (the wolves) |

These two patterns, adding **_-e_** and **umlaut + _-e_**, account for the majority of masculine and neuter nouns!

### When no ending is added

**Masculine** and **neuter** nouns that end in **_-el_**, **_-en_**, or **_-er_** don’t add a plural ending. You'll have to pay attention to the determiner to know if the noun is singular or plural!

| Singular | Plural |
| --- | --- |
| der Löffel (the spoon) | die Löffel (the spoons) |
| der Kuchen (the cake) | die Kuchen (the cakes) |
| das Fenster (the window) | die Fenster (the windows) |

But some also get an **umlaut**—you'll have to memorize the **masculine** nouns where this applies:

| Singular | Plural |
| --- | --- |
| der Garten (the garden) | die Gärten (the gardens) |
| der Boden (the floor) | die Böden (the floors) |
| der Bruder (the brother) | die Brüder (the brothers) |

While these patterns generally apply to masculine and neuter nouns, there are two feminine nouns that follow this pattern, too:

| Singular | Plural |
| --- | --- |
| die Tochter (the daughter) | die Töchter (the daughters) |
| die Mutter (the mother) | die Mütter (the mothers) |

Okay, you’ve made it to the final category!

### When to add _-er_

Some **masculine** and **neuter** nouns add **_-er_** instead of just **_-e_**. But if they have an **umlautable** stem vowel (remember: **_a_**, **_o_**, or **_u_**), then they do get **umlauted.**

| Singular | Plural |
| --- | --- |
| der Mann (the man) | die Männer (the men) |
| das Dorf (the village) | die Dörfer (the villages) |
| das Huhn (the chicken) | die Hühner (the chickens) |
| das Feld (the field) | die Felder (the fields) |
| das Kind (the child) | die Kinder (the children) |

## Plurally confused?

Your best bet is to learn German plural forms alongside the singular. Use these guidelines together with some memorization and you'll learn them in no time! Take it one Wort and one Plural at a time, and before you know it, you’ll be confidently handling all the Wörter and Plurale! 💪