German plural rules
English adds -s and is done. German has several plural endings, sometimes adds an umlaut, and sometimes changes nothing at all. Rather than list rules that mostly do not hold, this page counts what the most common nouns actually do.
The patterns, by how common they are
| Declension | # | German |
|---|---|---|
| -(e)n | 14 | der Mensch, die Uhr, die Zeit, die Frau, die Stunde, die Woche, der Name, die Welt … |
| -e | 7 | das Jahr, der Tag, der Freund, der Monat, der Weg, der Tisch, das Brot |
| -e +umlaut | 5 | die Stadt, der Bahnhof, die Hand, der Kopf, die Nacht |
| same | 4 | das Prozent, der Euro, das Zimmer, das Fenster |
| -er +umlaut | 4 | der Mann, das Haus, das Land, das Buch |
| -er | 1 | das Kind |
| -s | 1 | das Auto |
| — | 4 | das Wasser, das Geld, die Milch, der Kaffee |
What to take from this
The -(e)n ending is the single most common pattern and is almost automatic for feminine nouns. The umlaut patterns are where beginners lose marks: der Mann → die Männer, das Haus → die Häuser. And a small group changes nothing visible at all — das Zimmer → die Zimmer — where only the article tells you it is plural.
The dative plural trap
Whatever the plural ending, the dative plural adds an -n unless the plural already ends in -n or -s. So die Häuser becomes mit den Häusern, and die Kinder becomes mit den Kindern. It is a small rule and it catches almost everyone at least once.
Try it
All 182 words are in the free trainer — flashcards, multiple choice, listening practice and spaced review. No account needed.