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So let`s take a quick look at the German plural
It looks a bit intimidating if you check the books
but in the end it comes down to two forms
Let me develop a strategy how to reduce all this information.
Here you see three forms. Let`s start with a few examples.
ein Löffel, ein Messer, ein Vater, ein Mädchen
spoon, knife, father and girl
They are like this in the plural.
One spoon >> eleven spoons... in English
But in German: ein Löffel >> elf Löffel.
So... there`s nothing here. Löffel stays Löffel.
The same with 'Messer'. We don`t have to add anything
But 'father' is a bit special.
Because we have an 'a' here and a, o and u
tend to change into an Umlaut.
Unfortunately that is not always the case, so...
be a bit careful but you know it is possible.
So... elf Väter. Ein Mädchen >> elf Mädchen... again, nothing new here.
and I`ve put that together in a short crispy rule which is...
'El-er-chen stays el-er-chen.'
So you know these endings always stay the same in the plural.
And of these almost all of them are masculine or neuter.
'E-L'... you will find a bit more exceptions
But... well, it`s a rule and it helps you.
The next level is pretty common to you because you speak already English.
And in English you would just add an 's'.
So do we. 'A car' >> ein Auto >> elf Autos.
Ein Sofa >> elf Sofas
Ein Uhu -which is a kind of owl- elf Uhus.
So, foreign words -usually they are foreign- ending in a, o, u
take an 's'.
This comes natural, ahem... naturally to you, so it doesn`t really
take any effort to learn.
The third one is pretty lovely because any word ending in an 'e'
takes an 'n' for it's plural. This is a lovely rule, so...
Ein Hase >> one hare >> eleven hares.
Or rabbit, let`s say rabbit. Doesn`t sound like hair then.
Eine Nase >> a nose >> elf Nasen >> eleven noses.
So, whenever you have got an 'e' just put an 'n' there and you`ve got the plural
and most of these are feminine as you already know from the article videos.
Now let`s take a look at the last three forms
and then we are done with this.
Now let`s take a last look, a quick look at the last three forms.
You see here 'Kind' and 'Rind' >> 'child' and 'cattle' or kind of cow.
'Elf Kin...der' and the same... 'elf Rin...der'.
As there is only three percent
of the nouns taking the 'e-r' we can neglect this.
You will pick them up on the go.
So, let`s not focus too long on this group.
But... all of these are either masculine or neuter
meaning using the article DER or DAS.
The last two are the most important ones.
Ein Tisch >> a table. Ein Fisch >> 'Fish' like in English.
Elf Tisch...e >> Tische. And 'Fisch' the same:
elf Fische.
And here it starts to become interesting.
23 percent of the nouns take an 'e'
And almost all of them, 95 percent
are either masculine or neuter.
So, whenever a noun uses the article DER or DAS
and you have to use the plural why not just add an 'e' there?
You have a 95 percent chance of being right. -------***Please forgive my lousy math skills here. You get the idea.***
And believe me. You will learn the exceptions pretty quickly.
And the second important form:
ein Bett >> a bed >> elf Betten.
eine Frau >> a woman >> elf Frauen.
And again this is a very interesting group as
52 percent of the nouns take the ending
'e' or 'en' --- ***again apologies: it should be 'n' or 'en'***
We have done the 'e' ending before, here. ***'e'-ending is referring to the ending of a noun not the plural***
which is pretty simple because we just add an 'n'.
But here, if you don`t know it, you just add an 'en'.
And here 95 percent, ahem sorry, 59 percent
No, 95 percent are feminine.
So, whenever the article is DIE just add an 'n'* or an 'en' *** Bad Mike: I meant add an 'e' or 'en'.
and you are pretty right.
Ja?! Your chances to be right are pretty high.
So, it all comes down to these two.
The article is DER or DAS >> You add an 'e'
And the article is DIE >> You add an 'e' or 'en' ***same mistake as before: add an 'n' or 'en'
and that`s it.
So, I hope this simplifies the topic of the plural of nouns for you.
It`s only two forms that you have to be aware of and as you can see again
it all comes down to the article.
So, good luck with this.