We’ve already seen how nouns have different genders and words for the (der, die, and das). When we form the plural, the word for the will always be die. Be sure not to confuse it with the feminine die!
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| der Mann | die Männer |
| die Frau | die Frauen |
| das Kind | die Kinder |
In German, there are many ways to show something is plural. It seems like a lot, but you’ll get used to the patterns the more you practice them! Here are the most commonly used ways:
Some plurals are formed by adding an ‑e. Some words add an umlaut (the two dots!) on the vowel too.
| das Schwein the pig |
die Schweine the pigs |
|---|---|
| die Kuh the cow |
die Kühe the cows |
Another pattern is adding ‑er, also with an umlaut sometimes.
| das Ei the egg |
die Eier the eggs |
|---|---|
| der Mann the man |
die Männer the men |
Some words simply add the umlaut!
| der Vogel the bird |
die Vögel the birds |
You can add ‑en (or just ‑n if the word already ends with ‑e).
| die Ente the duck |
die Enten the ducks |
|---|---|
| die Frau the woman |
die Frauen the women |
The plural can look exactly like the singular with no change (aside from changing the to die)!
| das Mädchen the girl |
die Mädchen the girls |
And on rare occasions, you can add an ‑s like in English!
| die Pizza the pizza |
die Pizzas the pizzas |
Some words in German refer to multiple things, or groups of things, but they don’t use the plural die. For example, das Obst and das Essen. These words sound odd if you say a instead of the!
Das Obst ist süß.
The fruit is sweet.
Das Essen ist schlecht.
The food is bad.