Plural der Substantive Theorie

learning target

Aim of this section is to learn how to form the plural of a noun. singular er !unge as !ahr ie T"r as #$ chen er %aum as Auto plural ie !ungen ie !ahre ie T"ren ie #$ chen ie %ume ie Autos English &o' ( &o's 'ear ('ears oor ( oors girl ( girls tree ( trees car ( cars

rules

The rule is) There is no rule! *o+ it,s no -o.e. /n English 'ou -ust a plural an a 0s0 to form a plural. /n 1erman+ there are 12 ifferent wa's to form a

there aren,t reall' rules which help to .now which noun re2uires which wa'. 3ou ha4e -ust one

choice. 5hen 'ou learn a new noun learn the noun+ the article an the plural form.

The 12 ways to form a plural in German 1. wa') a singular er 6chuh as 5ort as 7ro&lem an 0e0 to the noun plural ie 6chuhe ie 5orte ie 7ro&leme translation shoe ( shoes wor ( wor s pro&lem ( pro&lems

2. wa') a singular ie 6tra8e ie 6chule er *ame

a 0n0 to the noun plural ie 6tra8en ie 6chulen ie *amen translation street ( streets schools ( schools name ( names

9. wa') a singular er 7ar. as Hotel ie :amera

a 0s0 to the noun plural ie 7ar.s ie Hotels ie :ameras translation par. ( par.s hotel ( hotels camera ( cameras

Thomas Hfler 2005 2009

Plural der Substantive Theorie

;. wa') a singular er 6tu ent as %ett ie T"r

an 0en0 to the noun plural ie 6tu enten ie %etten ie T"ren translation stu ent ( stu ents &e ( &e s oor ( oors

5. wa') a singular as Ei as :in er 1eist

a 0er0 to the noun plural ie Eier ie :in er ie 1eister translation egg( eggs chil ( chil ren ghost ( ghosts

<. wa') a singular as =eugnis as Erle&nis

a 0se0 to the noun plural ie =eugnisse ie Erle&nisse ie ?erh$ltnisse translation school report ( school reports e>perience ( e>periences relationship ( relationships

as ?erh$ltnis

@. wa') a singular ie Areun in ie DrEtin

a 0nen0 to the noun plural ie Areun innen ie DrEtinnen ie 6tu entinnen translation frien ( frien s BfemaleC octor ( octors BfemaleC stu ent ( stu ents BfemaleC

ie 6tu entin

F. wa') a singular er Aehler er 6ch"ler as Aenster

nothing to the noun. 6ingluar an plural are the same. plural ie Aehler ie 6ch"ler ie Aenster translation mista.e ( mista.es pupil ( pupils win ow ( win ows

9. wa') change the stem 4owel. singular ie Tochter er ?ater er %ru er plural ie Tchter ie ?$ter ie %r" er translation aughter( aughters father ( fathers &rother ( &rothers

10. wa') change the stem 4owel an a singular er Au8 ie 6ta t er 6ohn plural ie A"8e ie 6t$ te ie 6hne translation foot ( feet cit' ( cities son ( sons

an 0e0 to the noun

Thomas Hfler 2005 2009

Plural der Substantive Theorie

11. wa') change the stem 4owel an a singular as 5ort er #ann as %uch plural ie 5rter ie #$nner ie %"cher translation wor ( wor s man ( men &oo. ( &oo.s

an 0er0 to the noun

12. wa') irregular change of the noun singular as Gatum er %us ie Airma plural ie Gaten ie %usse ie Airmen translation ate ( ates &us ( &uses compan' ( companies

last hints As 'ou alrea ' recogniEe the article of the plural nouns alwa's is) die /t oesn,t matter if the singular form has 0 er0+ 0 ie0 or 0 as0 for an article.

5hen we learn a new wor / will alwa's gi4e 'ou the plural form too. To sa4e space we will shorten the plural form this wa')

plural form a a a a a a a a an 0e0 a 0n0 a 0s0 an 0en0 an 0er0 an 0se0 an 0nen0 nothing

abbreviation He Hn Hs Hen Her Hse Hnen same I an 0e0 an 0er0 I+ e I+ er the wor itself no

stem 4owel change stem 4owel change an a stem 4owel change an a irregular change noun has no plural form

/f there is more than one 4owel in a noun then / mar.e the 4owel which has to &e change ) er AnEug JK ie AnE"ge Bsuit(suitsC mar.e as: 2nd!" #e

Thomas Hfler 2005 2009