Declension of plural nouns in German. Noun (declension)

In German, there are four types of declension of singular nouns:

1. strong declination;
2. weak declination;
3. feminine declension;
4. mixed declension.

The predominant indicator of number and case is the article (or a pronoun replacing it), since case endings are often absent in a German noun.

In the plural, all nouns are declined the same way.

Strong declination

This type of declension in German includes most masculine nouns and all neuter nouns (exception: das Herz - heart). Main feature: ending -(e)s in the genitive case:

Nominative	der Vater	der Mann	das Volk	das Fenster
Genitiv	des Vaters	des Mannes	des Volkes	des Fensters
Dativ	dem Vater	dem Mann	dem Volk	dem Fenster
Akkusativ	den Vater	den Mann	das Volk	das Fenster

Masculine nouns ending in -us and -ismus do not receive the ending -(e)s in the genitive case. Compare:

The ending -s in the genitive case is characteristic mainly of polysyllabic nouns:

and nouns ending in -s, -ß, -x, -z, -tz:

Some monosyllabic nouns may retain the lost dative ending -e, for example:
im Walde (der Wald) nach Hause (das Haus).

Weak declination

The weak declension includes nouns that are only masculine, mostly animate. Among them:

1. Nouns ending in -e:

der Knabe - boy
der Affe - monkey
der Kollege - colleague
der Lowe - lion
der Neffe - nephew
der Falke - falcon
der Erbe - heir
der Hase - hare, etc.

2. Some monosyllabic nouns:

der Bär - bear
der Narr - fool
der Fürst - prince
der Ochs - bull
der Graf - count
der Prinz - prince
der Held - hero
der Spatz - sparrow
der Herr - Mr.
der Tor - fool
der Hirt - shepherd
der Zar - king
der Mensch - man.

3. Nouns - names of persons - with foreign language stressed suffixes -ant, -at, -ent, -et, -graph (-greif), -ist, -it, -ot, etc.:

der Aspirant - graduate student
der Fotograf - photographer
der Diplomat - diplomat
der Pianist - pianist, etc.

Nouns are declined in the same way

der Architekt - architect
der Kamerad - comrade.

4. Several inanimate nouns of foreign origin, for example:

der Planet - planet
der Brilliant - diamond
der Komet - comet
der Diamant - diamond
der Automat - automatic machine
der Foliant - folio

The main indicator of weak declination is ending -(e)n in all cases except the nominative.

Nominative	der Knabe	der Mensch	der Diplomat
Genitiv	des Knaben	des Menschen	des Diplomaten
Dativ	dem Knaben	dem Menschen	dem Diplomaten
Akkusativ	den Knaben	den Menschen	den Diplomaten

Feminine declension

The feminine declension includes all feminine nouns. The main sign of feminine declension is the absence of case endings.

Nominative	die Tür	die Kraft	die Wissenschaft
Genitiv	der Tür	der Kraft	der Wissenschaft
Dativ	der Tür	der Kraft	der Wissenschaft
Akkusativ	die Tür	die Kraft	die Wissenschaft

Mixed declension

Several nouns form a special group that combines the characteristics of the strong (-s in the genitive case) and weak (-ep in the oblique cases) types of declension. This includes the following masculine nouns:
der Name - name
der Buchstabe - letter
der Same - seed
der Wille - will
der Gedanke - thought
der Friede - peace
der Fumke - spark
der Fels - rock

and the only neuter noun das Herz is the heart.

Nominative	der Name	das Herz
Genitiv	des Namens	des Herzens
Dativ	dem Namen	dem Herzen
Akkusativ	den Namen	das Herz

Declension of plural nouns

For those who have been studying German for a long time, the declension of nouns (nouns) is generally not particularly difficult. The case system consists of four cases (cases): Nominative (Nominativ), Genitive (Genitiv), Dative (Dativ), Accusative (Akkusativ). Many nouns do not have special case endings (terminations), only their articles change. However, there are also a few things to pay attention to here.

There are three types of skl. noun masculine and neuter: strong (s-Deklination), weak (n-Deklination) and mixed (gemischte Deklination). There is also the so-called women's school

Almost all words are in Dative pad. plural have graduated –n:

das Buch (N. singl.) – die Bücher (N. pl) – den Bücher-n (D. pl),

die Mutter (N. singl) – die Mütter (N. pl) – den Müttern (D. pl),

der Vater (N. singl) – die Väter (N. pl) – den Vätern (D. pl).

In feminine words in which the Nominative form is pad. The plural ends in –n, the Dative form. matches it (the new letter –n does not appear):

Die Studentin (N. singl) – die Studentinnen (N. pl) – den Studentinnen (D. pl).

Die Leserin (N. singl) – die Leserinnen (N. pl) – den Leserinnen (D. pl).

In general, noun. The feminine gender is usually declined according to the so-called. feminine declension. Its main feature is that all forms of the singular coincide with the Nominative case, and the ending. in all plural cases – en.

Kasus
Nominative
Genitiv
Dativ
Akkusativ

To the point, strongly inclined, include masculine and neuter words and some feminine words that are in the Nominative pad. pl. h. have ending. -er, -e or null.

der Baum – die Bäume, die Erkenntnis – die Erkenntnisse, das Volk – die Völker, der Meister – die Meister.

Noun masculine and neuter gender Genitive pad. units have ending –s or – es:

der Baum – des Baums, der Meister – des Meisters.

Finish -es joins:

• Usually to monosyllabic nouns. (for euphony): das Volk – des Volk(e)s, der Tag – des Tag(e)s. Although in these cases it is possible to use conc. –s: des Volks, des Tags.
• To nouns ending in –s, -ss, -ß, -tz, -x, -z . Das Haus - das Hauses, der Kuss - des Kusses, das Gesetz - des Gesetzes.

Thus, the table is final. strong cl. as follows:

Kasus
Nominative
Genitiv	+(e)s		+(e)s
Dativ
Akkusativ

Sometimes in Dative pad. nouns ending in a consonant may have an ending. -e. For example, im Jahre..., dem Tage, dem Volke. Such forms are outdated and are sometimes used in written speech (official documents).

A separate subspecies of the strong class. is considered to be skl. nouns ending –s in plural

Das Auto – die Autos, der Job – die Jobs, das Cafe – die Cafes.

Like the words of the “ordinary” strong inflection, they have an ending. –s in Genitive. units, but do not have endings. –n in the dative case. plural

Kasus	Singular	Plural
Nominative	Das Cafe	die Cafes
Genitiv	des Cafes	der Cafes
Dativ	dem Cafe	den Cafes
Akkusativ	den Cafe	die Cafes

The main difference between weak cl. is final –en, which appears in all forms except the Nominative pad. units To the weak slope usually refer to nouns. masculine, which denote living beings of the masculine gender, nationality and profession that end in -e, -af, -and, -ant, -ent, -ist, -loge, etc.

Schematically, the endings can be represented as follows:

Kasus
Nominative	—	—	—	+(e)n
Genitiv	+(e)n	—	—	+(e)n
Dativ	+(e)n	—	—	+(e)n
Akkusativ	+(e)n	—	—	+(e)n

To a variety of weak cl. refer to words that in the Genitive case. have graduated –ens . This group of words is not numerous - it includes the words der Name, der Buchstabe, der Glaube, der Wille, der Friede, der Gedanke, der Same, der Funke, as well as singular noun. neuter in this list – das Herz . Accordingly, in the Genitive pad. these words will look like: des Namens, des Buchstabens, des Glaubens, des Willens, des Friedens, des Gedankes, der Samens, des Funkens, des Herzens.

To the weak slope also applies to skl. noun der Herr, although its ending. in the singular are slightly different from the usual ones:

Kasus	Singular	Plural
Nominative	der Herr	die Herren
Genitiv	des Herrn	der Herren
Dativ	dem Herrn	den Herren
Akkusativ	den Herrn	die Herren

Consideration of the topic “German language. Declension of nouns" would be incomplete if we did not consider mixed declension. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that noun. in the singular they are declined according to the strong inflection. (acquired in the Genitive case singular ending -s or -es), and in the plural - according to the weak inflection. (all pads have the ending –en).

Kasus
Nominative				+(e)n
Genitiv	+(e)s		+(e)s	+(e)n
Dativ				+(e)n
Akkusativ				+(e)n

To this skl. words include: der See, der Staat, der Direktor, der Staat, der Schmerz, der Vetter, der Motor, das Ohr, das Drama, das Bett, das Auge, das Ohr, der Mast…

Declension is the change of parts of speech by cases and numbers. In German, nouns, articles, pronouns, and adjectives are declined according to cases (if they appear before the noun).

Important!

Master the topic " Declension"Knowledge will help cases in German. Unlike the Russian language, in German there are only four cases: Nominative (Nominativ), Genitive (Genetiv), Dative (Dativ), Accusative (Akkusativ).

Nominative	Wer? (who) Was? (What)
	Wessen? (whose)
	Wem? (to whom) Wo? (where) Wann? (when) Wie? (How)
Akkusativ	Wen? (who) Was? (what) Wohin? (Where)

Declension of adjectives in German

The method of declension of adjectives is closely related to the article. The presence or absence of an article before the adjective, as well as its type (definite or indefinite), determines what type of inflection the adjective will take - strong, weak or mixed.

Declension of adjectives
• Strong declination
• Weak declination
• Mixed declension

Gender, number, case are shown in a phrase only once (or with an accompanying word - article, numeral, or adjective)!

As can be seen from the table, with a strong declension, the adjective receives the gender/case ending of the definite article. Exception: Genetiv singular masculine and neuter. In this form the adjective ends in -en.

Weak declension of adjectives

In Nominativ units. h. (all genders) and Akkusativ singular. (except m.r.) the adjective receives an ending -e, in all other cases singular and plural - en.

	Der gut e	Das gut e	Die gut e	Die gut en
	Des gut en	Des gut en	Der gut en	Der gut en
	Dem gut en	Dem gut en	Der gut en	Den gut en
	Den gut en	Das gut e	Die gut e	Die gut en
	Vater good father	Kind good child	Mutter good mom	Eltern good parents

Mixed declension of adjectives

A sign of mixed declension of adjectives can be not only the indefinite article ein/eine, but also possessive pronouns ( mein, dein etc.), as well as a negative pronoun kein/ keine. If gender, number and case can be determined from the accompanying word (article, pronoun), the adjective is declined according to the weak type. If number, gender and case cannot be determined, use the strong one.

Ein guter Vater (good father, Im.p.)
By the article ein (can be either in the m.r. or in the w.r.n.) it is impossible to understand what gender the noun Vater belongs to. Therefore, the generic ending -er receives in this case the adjective guter. Strong declination.

Meinen guten Vater (my good father, V. p.)
Using the possessive pronoun meinen, you can determine the gender, number and case of the noun Vater. In this case, the adjective guten ends in -en and is inflected weakly.

We looked at the declensions of adjectives in German. The specifics of the declension of German nouns are presented in the table:

Declension of nouns in German

Gen. / kind.p.	-s des Vater s	-s des Kind es
Dat./dat.p.				-n den Bucher n
Akk. /vin.p.

In the genitive case, masculine and neuter, an ending is added to the noun -s, in the dative plural the ending is added -n. In other cases, the noun remains unchanged. The exception is weak nouns.

Declension of weak nouns

Masculine nouns that receive the plural ending - (e)n. The same ending is characteristic of all singular cases, except the nominative. These nouns include:

1. Words starting with -e (der Junge - boy);
2. Words with Latin or Greek suffixes denoting the type of activity (der Student - student);
3. Some inanimate nouns of foreign origin (der Automat - machine gun);
4. A few German words that require memorization (der Mensch - man, der Nachbar - neighbor, etc.)

	Sg. / unit	Pl. / plural
No. / Name	Der Student (student)	Die Student en
Gen. / R.p.	Des Student en	Der Student en
Dat. / D.p.	Dem Student en	Den Student en
Akk. / V.p.	Den Student en	Die Student en

For those who study German, the weak declension (cl.) of nouns (noun) is one of the many “little things” that, despite their apparent simplicity, cause a lot of trouble.

On the one hand, everything is clear: the peculiarity of this cluster. is that noun. in all case forms, except for the Nominative singular (number), acquire the ending –en. Articles are declined as usual.

On the other hand, remember which words belong to this group. at the moment of speaking, it can be difficult. First of all, it should be noted that all these entities. masculine (except for das Herz). So, to the weak cl. in German include:

• Nouns denoting male creatures (humans and animals) that end in –e: der Kollege, der Zeuge, der Kunde, der Knabe, der Sklave, der Geselle, der Hase, der Drache, der Affe, der Löwe, etc.
• Monosyllabic nouns with the same meaning: der Graf, der Held, der Mensch, der Fürst, der Prinz, der Zar, der Bär, etc.
• Names of all nationalities ending in –e: der Russe, der Pole, der Chinese, der Grieche, der Türke, etc.
• Foreign (usually Greek and Latin) words with the suffix -and-/ -ant-: der Doktorand, der Proband, der Elefant, der Musikant, etc.
• Foreign words with the suffix -ent-, denoting males: der Student, der Absolvent, der Produzent, der Präsident, etc.
• Foreign words with the suffix -ad-/ -at-: der Kamerad, der Demokrat, der Diplomat, der Soldat, der Automat, etc.
• Foreign words with the suffix -ist-: der Polizist, der Journalist, der Tourist, der Egoist, etc.
• Foreign words with the suffix -loge-: der Psychologe, der Philologe, der Biologe, der Pädagoge, etc.
• Foreign words with the suffix -eut-, -aut-: der Therapeut, der Pharmazeut, der Astronaut, der Kosmonaut, etc.
• Foreign words with the suffix –graf-/ -graph-: der Telegraf, der Fotograf, der Geograph, der Paragraph, etc.
• Foreign words with the suffix -t-: der Architekt, der Athlet, der Satellit, der Ästhet, etc.
• Some words that do not fit into the classification above: der Astronom, der Philosopher, der Catholic, der Monarch, der Komet, der Planet, der Tatar and others. In total to this skl. refer to about four thousand nouns.

Standing somewhat apart from this list are the words der Name, der Buchstabe, der Glaube, der Wille, der Friede, der Gedanke, der Same, der Funke, as well as singular noun. neuter in this list – das Herz . Their peculiarity is that in the Genitive case the singular number. they acquire the ending -ens, that is, they look like this: des Namens, des Buchstabens, des Glaubens.... In all other forms they have a characteristic ending -en.

Noun das Herz in the Accusative case does not have the ending –en:

Particular attention should be paid to the pronoun Herr, despite the fact that it belongs to the weak inflection, its forms are somewhat different from the usual ones:

To the weak slope refers to noun Ungar, although with skl. it takes on the ending -n:

Studying the topic “German. Weak declension of nouns,” you need to remember that there is a mixed declension, and not to confuse one with the other. To mixed group include words that are in the singular. inclined on a strong slope. (in the Genitive case singulars have the ending -s), and in the plural - in the weak case. This includes the words der See, der Staat, der Vetter, das Auge, das Ohr, etc. This can also include noun. der Bauer, der Nachbar, etc., although they can also lean along a weak slope. (with ending –n), and mixed:

Kasus/ case	Singular/ singular	Plural/ plural
Nominative/ Nominative	Bauer	Bauern
	Nachbar	Nachbarn
Genitiv/ Genitive	Bauers, Bauern	Bauern
	Nachbars, Nachbarn	Nachbarn
Dativ/ Dative	Bauer, Bauern	Bauern
	Nachbar, Nachbarn	Nachbarn
Akkusativ/ Accusative	Bauer, Bauern	Bauern
	Nachbar, Nachbarn	Nachbarn