The Plurals of Nouns

German nouns have 5 different plural endings. Before you "go ape", remember that English also has a variety of different plural endings, however.

ADD AN "S"………………..book > books

ADD AN "ES" ……………dish > dishes

ADD NOTHING………….fish > fish

CHANGE TO AN "I"….cactus > cacti

WEIRD CHANGES…….mouse > mice (louse>lice, but house>houses)

Most English words add an "s" to form the plural. Unlike English, German nouns don't have any pattern that is used "most often". Most of the plural forms must be memorized, but there are a number of hints that will become obvious to you as we look at the plural forms.

Before we do that, however, we need to learn TWO VERY IMPORTANT THINGS!

1. The definite article for any German noun is DIE. It doesn't matter whether the noun was der, die or das in its singular form. When there are two or more of the noun in questions, the definite article is ALWAYS DIE.
2. The verb form for any noun that is plural is the infinitive form of the verb. Usually that means that it ends in -EN. With the verb SEIN, we use the form SIND.

These 2 changes can be made without even thinking about the plural form of the verb. You should change these FIRST - BEFORE YOU EVEN CONSIDER WHAT THE PLURAL FORM OF THE NOUN IS.

EXAMPLE: Der Bleistift kostet DM 1,00.

…………………DIE…………….KOSTEN

Die Bleistifte kosten DM 1,00.

EXAMPLE: Wo ist das Buch?

…………………SIND DIE

Wo sind die Bücher?

Now let's look at the different plural forms many of the nouns we have learned.