Nouns can be generally described as identifying words or names for an object, concept, idea, state, action, or other various things to be found in human existence.
There is no difference in terms of what words qualify as nouns between English and German; however, there are numerous qualities that German nouns have which do not exist in English.
In the following section, “Nouns”, I will briefly introduce the particularities of nouns as it relates to the German language, and further dive into those particularities in the further subheadings.
In German, nouns exist in three genders, namely masculine, feminine, and neuter, and are identifiable with or without articles. They are declined according to the four cases. They are always capitalized, making them easily identifiable in a sentence. German words exist in singular and plural forms, with often irregular and unpredictable plural forms.
As mentioned in compound words, a particular quality of the German language is the capacity to essentially create words of unlimited length, combining individual nouns together to create “monster” compound words.
Contents
Gender List
German nouns are always assigned a gender, which are not always predictable by the form of the word and in rare cases have discrepancies (in some cases, a word can have two genders, depending on who you ask).
Thus, in learning German grammar it is essential to always learn the gender together with the noun. This can be achieved by learning the article which identifies a German noun’s gender.
Articles exist in numerous categories and are declined, but this will be discussed later in Articles. For now, I will discuss the gendering of nouns in definite (the/these/those) form in the nominative case.
The nominative articles for words are divided into four principle categories: definite (the/these/those), indefinite (a/some), negative (no), and zero (essentially the absence of an article). The nominative form of nouns is the basic version found in a dictionary or in vocabulary lists, and the gender is always indicated.
For masculine words, the definite article “the” is “der”. For feminine words, it is “die”. For neuter words, it is “das”. For example:
- Der Bauer, die Bäuerin und das Schwein
- The male farmer, the female farmer, and the pig
While there is no way to know the gender of a noun with 100% assurance, there are some indications which can assist in the correct identification of a gender.
Masculine Nouns
Are Often Male-Sex People/Occupations
- der Vater (the father)
- der Sänger (the male singer)
Are Months and Days
- (der) Montag
- (der) Januar
Note: these are often employed with no articles, for example “on Monday” is Montag (no article)
Often End in
| -ant | der Offiziant (the officer) |
| der Elefant (the elephant) | |
| -eich | der Bereich (the area) |
| der Streich (the prank) | |
| -el | der Ärmel (the sleeve) |
| der Spiegel (the mirror) | |
| -er | der Adler (the eagle) |
| der Eifer (the zeal) | |
| -ich | der Teppich (the carpet) |
| der Stich (the stab) | |
| -ig | der Essig (the vinegar) |
| der Honig (the honey) | |
| -ismus | der Rassismus (the racism) |
| der Antisemitismus (the antisemitism) | |
| -ling | der Schmetterling (the butterfly) |
| der Bratling (the patty) | |
| -ner | der Schaffner (the conductor) |
| der Ärmelschoner (the sleeve protector) | |
| -or | der Chor (the choir) |
| der Kunstdirektor (the director of art) | |
| -us | der Bus (the bus) |
| der Fokus (the focal point) |
Feminine Nouns
Are Often Female-Gender People/Occupations
- die Mutter (the mother)
- die Saengerin (the female singer)
Are Often Foreign Words Ending in
| -ade | die Fassade (the facade) |
| from French, la façade | |
| -age | die Montage (the assembly) |
| from French, le montage | |
| -anz | die Arroganz (the arrogance) |
| from Latin, arrogantia | |
| -enz | die Konkurrenz (the competition) |
| from Italian, la concorrenza | |
| -ik | die Logik (the logic) |
| from Greek, λογική | |
| -ion | die Konstitution (the constitution) |
| from French, la constitution | |
| -taet | die Identität (the identity) |
| from Latin, identitās | |
| -ur | die Kultur (the culture) |
| from Latin, cultura |
Often End in
| -e | die Matratze (the mattress) |
| die Fratze (the grimace) | |
| -ei | die Polizei (the police) |
| die Quälerei (the agony) | |
| -heit | die Gesundheit (the health) |
| die Unannehmlichkeit (the inconvenience) | |
| -ie | die Enzyklopädie (the encyclopedia) |
| die Demokratie (the democracy) | |
| -keit | die Süßigkeit (the piece of candy) |
| usually used in plural | |
| die Sehenswürdigkeit (the attraction/point of interest) | |
| -schaft | die Belegschaft (the workforce) |
| die Mannschaft (the team) | |
| -sion | die Sponsion (the graduation ceremony) |
| die Depression (the depression) | |
| -t | die Flucht (the fleeing) |
| die Wut (the anger) | |
| -tion | die Konzentration (the concentration) |
| die Aspiration (the aspiration) | |
| -ung | die Ordnung (the order) |
| die Bewegung (the movement) | |
| -ur | die Natur (the nature) |
| die Schnur (the yarn) |
Neuter Nouns
Are Often Diminutives with -chen or -lein
- These are suffixes attributed to a standard noun to make it a “smaller version”
- der Hund (the dog) becomes das Huendchen (the small dog)
- Note: this also applies to the Austrian German diminutive suffix -erl
- der Breze (the pretzel) becomes das Brezerl (the smaller pretzel)
Are Often Colors
- das Rot (the red)
- das Rosa (the pink)
Are Often Metals
- das Plutonium (the plutonium)
- das Aluminium (the aluminum)
Are Often Nouns Derived from Verbs
This is a special use of a verb as a noun, such as the English “the taking of” or “the studying of”
- das Backen (the backing of)
- das Wandern (the hiking)
Are Often Nouns Derived from Adjectives
Often End in
| -ial | das Angriffspotenzial (the potential for attack) |
| das Material (the material) | |
| -ium | das Planetarium (the planetarium) |
| das Stipendium (the scholarship) | |
| -ma | das Klima (the climate) |
| das Drama (the drama) | |
| -ment | das Dokument (the document) |
| das Medikament (the medication) | |
| -nis | das Ergebnis (the result) |
| das Hindernis (the obstacle) | |
| -o | das Portfolio (the portfolio) |
| das Bankkonto (the bank account) | |
| -tum | das Datum (the date) |
| das Judentum (Judaism) | |
| -um | das Forum (the forum) |
| das Publikum (the audience) |
Common Gender Exceptions
Exceptions to gender rules above are most commonly rooted in 3 reasons:
A single spelling with different genders for different meanings
- der See (the lake)
- die See (the ocean)
An exception to the male/female-gender person or occupation rule
- das Mädchen (the girl) is neuter, but der Junge (the boy) is masculine
A regional difference
- die Mail (the email) in Northern Germany, but das Mail (the email) in Southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
Plural Form
The plural form of nouns in German is unfortunately not entirely predictable, just like the gender of nouns.
While there are many patterns, there are also many exceptions. I would recommend learning both the gender and the plural form of every noun that you learn in order to best ensure accuracy in learning.
The plural form for German words is most often formed by adding endings to a word, like in English. The most common endings are listed below, listed by singular form endings. Note that the plural article in the nominative case is “die”, not to be confused with the “die” for the singular feminine article in the nominative case.
-e
Masculine Nouns Ending in
| -eur | der Friseur (the barber) |
| die Friseure (the barbers) | |
| -ich | der Nymphensittich (the cockatiel) |
| die Nymphensittiche (the cockatiels) | |
| -ier | der Stier (the bull) |
| die Stiere (the bulls) | |
| -ig | der König (the king) |
| die Könige (the kings) | |
| ing | der Flüchtling (the refugee) |
| die Flüchtlinge (the refugees) |
Feminine Nouns that are One Syllable
- die Wand (the wall)
- die Wände (the walls)
- die Hand (the hand)
- die Hände (the hands)
Note: that in the plural form, the umlaut is often added
-n/-en
Masculine Nouns Ending in
| -and | der Kommandant (the commandent) |
| die Kommandanten (the commandents) | |
| -ant | der Garant (the guarantor) |
| die Garanten (the guarantors) | |
| -e | der Junge (the boy) |
| die Jungen (the boys) | |
| -ent | der Agent (the agent) |
| die Agenten (the agents) | |
| -ist | der Polizist (the policeman) |
| die Polizisten (the policemen) | |
| -or | der Autor (the author) |
| die Autoren (the authors) |
Feminine Nouns Ending in
| -e | die Serie (the series, the tv show) |
| die Serien (the series) | |
| -ik | die Grafik (the graphic) |
| die Grafiken (the graphics) | |
| -in | die Studentin |
| die Studentinnen | |
| Note: plurals for feminine-sex nouns like this add “-nen” after the “n” ending of the singular form | |
| ion | die Billion (the trillion) |
| die Billionen (the trillions) | |
| -heit | die Hoheit (the royal highness) |
| die Hoheiten (the royal highnesses) | |
| -keit | die Neuigkeit (the news) |
| die Neuigkeiten (the news) | |
| -schaft | die Nachbarschaft (the neighborhood) |
| die Nachbarschaften (the neighborhoods) | |
| -taet | die Universität (the university) |
| die Universitäten (the universities) | |
| -ung | die Zusammenfassung (the summary) |
| die Zusammenfassungen (the summaries) |
-r/-er
Neuter Nouns that are One Syllable
- das Buch (the book)
- die Bücher (the books)
- das Huhn (the chicken)
- die Hühner (the chickens)
Note: in the plural form, the umlaut is often added
-s
Masculine Nouns Ending in
| -a | der Ara (the macaw) |
| die Aras (the macaws) | |
| -i | der Kolibri (the hummingbird) |
| die Kolibris (the hummingbirds) | |
| -o | der Po (the butt) |
| die Pos (the butts) | |
| -u | der Akku (the battery) |
| die Akkus (the batteries) | |
| -y | der Curry (the curry) |
| die Currys (the curries) |
Feminine Nouns Ending in
| -a | die Vokuhila (the mullet) |
| die Vokuhilas (the mullets) | |
| -i | die Uni (the university) |
| die Unis (the universities) | |
| Note: this is an abbreviated form for die Universität | |
| -o | die Pomelo (the pomelo) |
| die Pomelos (the pomelos) | |
| -u | die GPU (the GPU) |
| die GPUs (the GPUs) | |
| -y | die Party (the party) |
| die Partys (the parties) |
Neuter Nouns Ending in
| -a | das Aroma (the aroma) |
| die Aromas (the aromas) | |
| -i | das Etui (the case) |
| die Etuis (the cases) | |
| -o | das Fiasko (the fiasco) |
| die Fiaskos (the fiascos) | |
| -u | das Taboo (the taboo) |
| die Taboos (the taboos) | |
| -y | das Handy (the cell phone) |
| die Handys (the cell phones) |
Nouns Which Remain the Same in Singular and Plural
In German, as in English, certain words do not change in spelling in singular or plural. In English, one could take “the sheep” or “the series” as examples. While the list is extensive, you should be aware that not all words will have different forms for singular and plural, and the only way to recognize this is by context or other declensions in a sentence.
Here are, however, certain indications of possible cases in which the singular and plural forms are unchanging.
Diminutives
| Singular | Plural |
| das Kätzchen (the small cat) | das Kätzchen (the small cats) |
| das Fischlein (the small fish) | die Fischlein (the small fish) |
| das Sackerl (the small bag, in Austria) | die Sackerl (the small bags, in Austria) |
Words ending in
| -er | der Boxer |
| die Boxer | |
| -el | der Ärmel (the sleeve) |
| die Ärmel (the sleeves) | |
| -en | das Abendessen (the dinner) |
| die Abendessen (the dinners) |
Areas of Possible Confusion for Plurals
In some cases, a word which is singular in English may be plural in German, or vice versa. These words could have both singular or plural forms, or just one form. For example, “the news” can be the singular “die Nachricht” or the plural “die Nachrichten” in German. Alternatively, “die Brille” is singular in German for the plural “the eyeglasses” in English. But, in German, “die Brillen” (the plural of “die Brille”) signifies multiple pairs of eyeglasses. This in English is only achievable by adding “pair”.
In both English and German, a plural form of a word can change its meaning. In English, “the fishes” refers to different type of fish, whereas “the fish” refers to either a singular or multiple fish. In German, there is also this concept. For example, “das Wein” (the wine) and “die Weine” (the different types of wine).
Uncountables are nouns which cannot, hence the name, be counted. In German and English most of these are shared: air, flour, chocolate, peanut butter, water, milk, etc. In identifying quantities of these, you have to add quantity units like “how much” instead of “how many”,“a pound of…”, or “a pair of” instead of a number.
To structure these quantity units in conjunction with the object it is quantifying, you can use a few different structures:
(1). Make a compound noun by adding the object in front of the unit of quantity
eine Sandwich-Scheibe (a sandwich slice)
- das Sandwich (the sandwich)
- die Scheibe (the slice)
Note: the gender of the compound noun is the gender of the unit of quantity
(2). Place the object behind the unit of quantity and put it in genitive
- die Scheibe des Sandwiches
(3). Place the object behind the unit of quantity and add “von” (of) between the unit of quantity and the subject
- die Scheibe vom Sandwich
What to Read Next
- Basic German Grammar Structure for Beginners
- German Declensions: Rules, Regulations, and Chart
- German Articles: Definite, Indefinite, Negative, and Zero
- German Pronouns: Personal, Possessive, Reflexive, Table, and More
- German Clauses: Independent, Dependent, and Types
- German Adverbs: Explanation, List, and Usage
- German Prepositions: Accusative, Dative, Genitive, and More
Or go back to our Learn German Language page for more learning resources.