Plurals

• What are the general rules for turning a MASCULINE noun into its plural?

  • Change the 'der' to a 'die'
  • Add an umlaut
  • Add an '-e' on the end
  • e.g. - der Markt -> die Märkte
• What are the general rules for turning a FEMININE noun into its plural?

  • Keep the 'die' the same.
  • Add an -'e' on the end. If there's already one, add an '-n'.
  • If the word ends in '-in', then add '-nen' on the end.
  • e.g. - die Schule -> die Schulen, die Schülerin->die Schülerinnen
• What are the general rules for turning a NEUTRAL noun into its plural?

  • Change the 'das' to 'die'
  • Words of one syllable: add an umlaut if possible, and add '-er' on the end. e.g das Buch-> die Bücher
  • Words of more than one syllable: add an umlaut if possible, and add an 'e' on the end. e.g das Geschenk-> die Geschenke
• What are the exceptions to the general rules?

  • Foreign nouns and nouns ending in '-i' or '-o' : add an 's' on the end.