English adds an s and stops thinking about it. German has five different plural endings, sometimes adds an umlaut on top, and occasionally changes nothing at all. Ein Kind, zwei Kinder. Ein Apfel, zwei Äpfel. Ein Lehrer, zwei Lehrer.
Here's the good news, and it's worth more than it sounds: every plural noun takes die. Whatever gender a word had in the singular, it joins the same group in the plural. Half the difficulty you just learned in der, die or das disappears the moment there's more than one.
The Five Patterns
| Ending | Example | Plural | Typical of |
|---|---|---|---|
-e | der Tag | die Tage | masculine nouns |
-(e)n | die Frau | die Frauen | feminine nouns |
-er | das Kind | die Kinder | short neuter nouns |
nothing | der Lehrer | die Lehrer | words already ending in -er, -el, -en |
-s | das Auto | die Autos | borrowed words |
Quick notes:
- These aren't equally common. -(e)n is by far the biggest group, because it covers almost all feminine nouns.
- An umlaut often rides along with -e and -er, and sometimes appears on its own: der Stuhl → die Stühle, das Haus → die Häuser, der Apfel → die Äpfel.
- Only a, o, u and au can take an umlaut. There's no umlauted e or i, so der Tisch can only become die Tische.
Which Pattern Does a Word Take?
Gender predicts the plural surprisingly well. These three rules of thumb will be right most of the time.
| feminine | -(e)n | die Wohnung → die Wohnungen |
|---|---|---|
feminine ending in -in | -nen | die Lehrerin → die Lehrerinnen |
masculine | -e, often with umlaut | der Zug → die Züge |
neuter, one syllable | -er with umlaut | das Buch → die Bücher |
masculine or neuter in -er, -el, -en | no ending | der Löffel → die Löffel |
borrowed from English or French | -s | das Handy → die Handys |
Quick notes:
- The -in → -innen rule is one you'll use constantly, because German marks female job titles: die Ärztin → die Ärztinnen, die Kollegin → die Kolleginnen.
- A small group of masculine nouns ending in -e takes -n and behaves like a feminine noun: der Junge → die Jungen, der Kollege → die Kollegen, der Name → die Namen.
- Job titles you've already met follow these patterns neatly — der Lehrer → die Lehrer, die Lehrerin → die Lehrerinnen. Same word, four shapes.
Words That Don't Change at All
| Singular | Plural | Why |
|---|---|---|
das Mädchen | die Mädchen | -chen never changes |
das Brötchen | die Brötchen | same rule |
der Lehrer | die Lehrer | already ends in -er |
der Koffer | die Koffer | same |
das Zimmer | die Zimmer | same |
der Wagen | die Wagen | already ends in -en |
Quick note: for these, the article is doing all the work. Der Lehrer is one teacher, die Lehrer is several — and in a sentence without an article you often can't tell at all, which is why Germans say zwei Zimmer rather than relying on the noun alone.
The -s Group: Newer Words
German gives -s to words it has borrowed, and to anything that feels like an abbreviation or a name.
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
das Auto | die Autos |
das Hotel | die Hotels |
der Chef | die Chefs |
das Baby | die Babys |
die App | die Apps |
das Team | die Teams |
Quick note: this is the pattern to reach for when you meet a word that clearly isn't German. It's also the only plural ending that never triggers an umlaut.
Two Details Worth Knowing Early
Plurals grow an extra -n after mit, bei, zu, von and in. German adds -n to the plural noun in the dative: mit den Kindern, in zwei Jahren, bei den Kollegen, mit meinen Freunden. Words that already end in -n or take -s don't change. You'll hear this constantly before you understand why, and it's enough to recognise it.
Some words are plural-only, some have no plural. Die Eltern (parents), die Leute (people) and die Ferien (holidays) exist only in the plural — there's no singular form to reach for. In the other direction, das Obst (fruit), die Milch, das Geld and die Polizei stay singular even when there's obviously more than one. German says die Polizei ist da, never die Polizeien.
How to Learn Them Without Suffering
Store three things together every time you meet a noun: the article, the word, the plural. Die Wohnung, die Wohnungen. It takes one extra second and it's the only method that reliably works, because the pattern is predictable enough to guess but not reliable enough to rely on.
If you want a shortcut, prioritise the plurals of things you count out loud — Kinder, Jahre, Tage, Euro, Zimmer, Tickets, Termine. Those are the ones you'll say in a sentence this week. Nobody needs the plural of Freiheit in a bakery.
Three Mistakes to Avoid
Adding -s to everything. English instinct produces die Kinders, die Hunds. The -s plural exists in German, but only for borrowed words.
Forgetting that the article changes to die. Das Haus becomes die Häuser, not das Häuser. Every plural, regardless of original gender.
Missing the umlaut. Die Mutter is one mother, die Mütter is several — the ending is identical and the umlaut is the only difference. Same with der Vater / die Väter.