Words with a gender? Is adding an “S” not enough to form the plural? German nouns might be a little confusing if you are new to the language. But don’t worry because today’s article will tackle the basics of German nouns simply and quickly. To help you craft your first few sentences like a real pro, we’ll introduce grammatical concepts related to gender, number, and how to use German nouns effectively. If you are interested in learning all that and more, then keep reading below!
German Nouns Genders
Learning adjectives can be great, but mastering nouns is a must in order to speak the language fluently. If you’re a native English speaker, the concept of words with genders may be new to you. In languages such as Spanish and French, words are classified as feminine and masculine. Their gender defines the article that goes with them.
In German nouns, there are three types of gender: masculine, feminine, and neuter. Each gender has a specific article that affects how a noun behaves in a sentence.
Now let’s see some examples.
Masculine Nouns
- Vater→ Father
- Bruder→ Brother
- Kaffee→ Coffee
- Zucker→ Sugar
- Apfel→ Apple
Feminine Nouns
- Frau→Woman
- Mutter→Mother
- Tochter→Daughter
- Schwester→Sister
- Suppe→Soup
- Limonade→Lemonade
Neuter Nouns
- Auto→Car
- Steak→Steak
- Obst→Fruit
- Bier→Beer
- Wasser→Water
- Fleisch→Meat
Definite Articles
An article is a word that precedes the noun, and its function is to specify whether the noun is known (definite) or unknown (indefinite). The German language has three definite articles, unlike the English language, which has only one: “the.”
Masculine Nouns Take The Definite Article Der.
- der Vater – the father
- der Zucker- the sugar
Feminine Nouns Take The Definite Article Die.
- die Frau – the woman
- die Flasche – the bottle
Neuter Nouns Take The Definite Article Das.
- das Auto- the car
- das Obst – the fruit
In the plural, German nouns take the definite article die.
- die Kinder-the children
- die Frauen-the women
Capitalization For German Nouns
You may have noticed that in German, the first letter of a noun is capitalized. Nouns are capitalized regardless of their place in a sentence.
There is a set of rules that determine where to capitalize and where not to. So it is helpful to have some understanding of those rules in order to write correctly in German.
The Four Cases Of German Language
In grammar, the case refers to the change in the form of a word that reflects how it is used in a phrase and how it is linked syntactically to other words in the same sentence. In line with that, there are four cases in the German language: nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative. This topic may be a headache for most German learners because it involves four different variations in the structure of the word (noun, pronoun, or article) according to the case that affects it.
Cases in German are extremely important, as their mastery determines language proficiency. You have to study each of them thoroughly to fully understand how they work. In the meantime, you can begin to understand how german cases work by checking this resource.
Indefinite Articles
There are two indefinite articles (singular) in German: ein for masculine and neuter nouns and eine for feminine nouns. In the plural, there is no indefinite article.
Examples:
The masculine indefinite article
- ein Bruder- a brother
- ein Apfel- an apple
The Feminine indefinite article
- eine Schwester- a sister
- eine Limonade – a lemonade
The Neuter indefinite article
- ein Auto- a car
- ein Bier- a beer
Plural Forms
In English and Spanish, forming the plural is not that difficult. In most cases, you have to add an “S” or an “ES” at the end of the noun, and that’s all. Of course, there are some exceptions, but in general, forming the plural of most nouns is quite simple.
In German, this is not the case. German nouns can take multiple plural forms; however, there are no rules on how to create them. I’ll show you some of the ways in which it can be formed by adding the following endings to the noun: -n, -s, -en, -e, -er.
Plural -n
- die Lampe – die Lampen
- das Bett- die Betten
Plural -s
- das Hotel – die Hotels
- das Auto- die Autos
Plural -en
- die Tastatur – die Tastaturen
- der Präsident – die Präsidenten
Plural -e
- der Frühling – die Frühlinge
- der Hund- die Hunde
Plural -er
- das Kind – die Kinder
- der Mann – die Männer
Additionally, there are plurals that change the vowels and maintain their original form; only the article is changed.
- der Fahrer – die Fahrer
- das Mädchen – die Mädchen
- der Vater – die Väter
The subject of plurals is a little complex; besides the forms, we have already seen, there are some other exceptions, which is why I recommend this article that breaks them down in greater detail.
90 Common German Nouns
| Das Essen | The Food |
| das Obst | the fruit |
| der Saft | the juice |
| das Bier | the beer |
| die Tomate | the tomato |
| die suppe | the soup |
| das Fleisch | the meat |
| die Kartoffel | the potato |
| das Gemüse | the vegetable |
| der Käse | the cheese |
| die Schokolade | the chocolate |
| Die Möbel | The Furniture |
| das Bild | the picture |
| die Lampe | the lamp |
| das Sofa | the sofa |
| der Stuhl | the chair |
| der Tisch | the table |
| der Schrank | the cupboard |
| das Bett | the bed |
| der Teppich | the carpet |
| Die Gegenstände | The Objects |
| der Bleistift | the pencil |
| die Brille | the glasses |
| das Buch | the book |
| die Flasche | the bottle |
| der Fotoapparat | the camera |
| der Schlüssel | the key |
| die Tasche | the pocket |
| Das Verkehrsmittel | The Transport |
| die S-bahn | the S-bahn |
| der Flughafen | the airport |
| das Taxi | the taxi |
| der Bus | the bus |
| die U-Bahn | the subway |
| das Flugzeug | The plane |
| das gleis | the track |
| der Straßenbahn | the tram |
| Die Familie | The Family |
| der Vater | the father |
| die Mutter | the mother |
| der Sohn | the son |
| die Tochter | the daughter |
| die Enkelin | the granddaughter |
| der Enkel | the grandson |
| der Bruder | the brother |
| die Schwester | the sister |
| die Eltern | the parents |
What Are The 3 Tips To Master German Nouns
1. Memorize the nouns with their articles. This was a mistake I made when I started to learn German. I memorized only the word without the article and then had to go back to see which article belonged to which word. It is ideal to memorize them together so that you can use them intuitively without dwelling on whether it is feminine, masculine, or neuter.
2. Learn the nouns with their plural. This Tip is similar to the previous one, but it is important to emphasize. As you have seen before, there are many different ways to form the plural, so it is better to learn the noun and its plural as a set, so you can remember it automatically.
3. Use flashcards to review. Thanks to technology, we can access everything from our cell phones. You can use a flashcards app that will help you keep track of the vocabulary you learn and review it whenever you have some extra time.
Learn More About German Nouns With Ling
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Embark on your German journey by downloading the app on App Store or Play Store. Give it a try, I can assure you that you won’t regret it. Tschüss!
