Plural _Essen_Familie_Sunnysclas83

Bad News: German noun plurals are a bit trickier than in English (rats!). 

Good News: In this guide, you’ll discover some shortcuts that make German noun plurals much more manageable!

This can be a matter of …

spelling (i.e. which suffix the noun has) h

which syllable is emphasized/accented 

ow long the noun is (e.g. single syllable vs. multi-syllable)

most nouns ending in -el, -en, or -er don’t change in their plural forms

most nouns that have accented final syllables will be take an -e plural 

most single-syllable nouns will take an -e + umlaut plural

no change

 add -e 

add -e + umlaut

add -s

add -er + umlaut

add -(e)n

Nomen mit Endung –e und feminine Nomen mit Endung –el und -er

der Name - die Namen

der Hase - die Hasen

die Schwester - die Schwestern

masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns with the endings -a, -i, -o, -u, -y

das Auto - die Autos

das Hobby - die Hobbys

masculine nouns with the endings -el, -en, -er

der Löffel - die Löffel

neuter nouns with the endings -chen, -lein

das Mädchen - die Mädchen

Maskuline Nomen mit nur einer Silbe

der Baum - die Bäume

single-syllable feminine nouns

die Hand - die Hände

die Maus - die Mäuse

many single-syllable neuter nouns

das Haus - die Häuser

To note: feminine nouns never form the plural with -r/-er.

Feminine nouns with just one syllabel

die Frau - die Frauen