Unlike in English, Germans do not simply add an -s to a word to pluralize it. There are actually seven ways to pluralize nouns in German. By becoming familiar with the following rules, pluralizing most nouns will be a less strenuous task. That being said, these rules can be considered as rough guidelines. Therefore, it is advised to learn the plural of a noun when you are first introduced to the singular form.
No Change
Some nouns do not change at all between the singular and the plural. This occurs with most masculine and neuter nouns ending in -el, -er, and -en. Neuter collective nouns beginning with ge-, as well as diminutives, do not change in the plural.Examples:
| das Fenster > die Fenster der Meister > die Meister das Gemälde > die Gemälde das Häschen > die Häschen |
Umlauted Vowel
A smaller amount of masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns ending in -er have a vowel change in the plural. The umlaut falls on the stressed vowel.Examples:
| der Bruder > die Brüder das Wasser > die Wässer der Garten > die Gärten |
Umlauted Vowel with -er Suffix
There are a few masculine and neuter nouns that take an -er ending in the plural along with the stressed vowel being umlauted.Examples:
| das Haus > die Häuser der Mund > die Münder das Bad > die Bäder |
-e Ending
There are quite a few masculine and neuter nouns that are pluralized by adding an -e suffix.Examples:
| der Tag > die Tage das Pferd > die Pferde das Dokument > die Dokumente |
Umlauted Vowel with -e Ending
This occurs often with masculine and neuter nouns. At times, feminine nouns are umlauted and take an -e on the end, especially if they are only one syllable.Examples:
| die Kraft > die Kräfte der Wolf > die Wölfe die Maus > die Mäuse der Platz > die Plätze |
-en/-n Ending
This ending is found with most feminine nouns and almost all masculine nouns ending in -e. There is a smaller group of neuter nouns that take this plural ending as well.Examples:
| der Student > die Studenten die Fabrik > die Fabriken der Kollege > die Kollegen der Kunde > die Kunden der See > die Seen |
-s Ending
Usually, words are only pluralized with an -s if they are foreign words. Note that at times, English words with an irregular plural form may just take an -s in German.Examples:
| das Hobby > die Hobbys das Handy > die Handys das Auto > die Autos die Kamera > die Kameras |