NOUNS

What is a noun?
A noun is a ‘naming’ word for a living being, thing or idea, for example, woman, happiness, Andrew. German nouns change, according to their gender, case and number. This is called declension.

Using nouns

In German, all nouns are either masculine, feminine or neuter. This is called their gender. In English, we call all things – for example, table, car, book, apple – ‘it’, but in German, even words for things have a gender. It is important to know that the gender of German nouns rarely relates to the sex of the person or thing it refers to. For example, in German, the word for ‘man’ is masculine, but the word for ‘girl’ is neuter and the word for ‘person’ is feminine.

der Mann	man
das Mädchen	girl
die Person	person

Tip

German nouns are always written with a capital letter.

Whenever you are using a noun, you need to know whether it is masculine, feminine or neuter as this affects the form of other words used with it, such as:

• adjectives that describe it
• articles (such as der or ein) that go before it
• pronouns (such as er or sie) that replace it

For more information on Adjectives, Articles or Pronouns, see pages 40, 25 and 69.

You can find information about gender by looking the word up in a dictionary – in the Easy Learning German Dictionary, for example, you will find the definite article (the word for the) in front of the word. When you come across a new noun, always learn the word for the that goes with it to help you remember its gender.

• der before a noun tells you it is masculine
• die before a noun tells you it is feminine
• das before a noun tells you it is neuter

For more information on the Definite article, see page 25.

We refer to something as singular when we are talking about just one, and as plural when we are talking about more than one. The singular is the form of the noun you will usually find when you look a noun up in the dictionary. As in English, nouns in German change their form in the plural.

die Katze cat die Katzen cats

Adjectives, articles and pronouns are also affected by whether a noun is singular or plural.

Tip

Remember that you have to use the right word for the, a and so on according to the gender and case of the German noun.

Gender

In German a noun can be masculine, feminine or neuter. Gender is quite unpredictable – the best thing is simply to learn each noun with its definite article, that is the word for the (der, die or das) which goes with it:

der Teppich	carpet
die Zeit	time
das Bild	picture

However, there are some clues which can help you work out or remember the gender of a noun, as explained below.

Masculine nouns

Nouns referring to male people and animals are masculine.

der Mann	man
der Löwe	(male) lion

Seasons, months, days of the week, and points of the compass are masculine.

der Sommer	summer
der August	August
der Freitag	Friday
der Norden	north

Most nouns referring to things that perform an action are also masculine.

der Wecker	alarm clock
der Computer	computer

Grammar Extra!

German nouns taken from other languages and ending in -ant, -ast, -ismus, and -or are masculine:

der Trabant	satellite
der Ballast	ballast
der Kapitalismus	capitalism
der Tresor	safe

Nouns with the following endings are masculine.

Masculine Ending	Example	Meaning
-ich	der Teppich	carpet
-ig	der Essig	vinegar
-ling	der Frühling	spring

Key points

Nouns referring to male people and animals are masculine.

Seasons, months, days of the week, weather and points of the compass are masculine.

Feminine nouns

Most nouns ending in -e are feminine.

die Falte	crease, wrinkle
die Brücke	bridge

Note that male people or animals ending in -e are masculine, and, nouns beginning with Ge- and ending in -e are normally neuter.

der Löwe	the lion
das Getreide	crop

Nouns with the following endings are feminine.

Feminine Ending	Example	Meaning
-heit	die Schönheit	beauty
-keit	die Sehenswürdigkeit	sight
-schaft	die Gewerkschaft	trade union
-ung	die Zeitung	newspaper
-ei	die Bäckerei	bakery

Grammar Extra!

German nouns, some taken from other languages and ending in -anz, -enz, -ie, -ik, -ion, -tät, -ur are feminine, with some exceptions.

die Distanz	distance	BUT: der Kranz	wreath
die Konkurrenz	competition
die Theorie	theory	BUT: das Knie	knee
die Panik	panic	BUT: der Pazifik	Pacific
die Union	union	BUT: der Spion	spy
die Elektrizität	electricity
die Temperatur	temperature	BUT: das Abitur	A levels

Numbers used in counting, for example one, three, fifty are feminine.

Er hat eine Drei gekriegt.

He got a three.

In German, there are sometimes very different words for male and female, just as in English.

der Mann	man
die Frau	woman
der Vater	father
die Mutter	mother
der Bulle	bull
die Kuh	cow

Many masculine German nouns can be made feminine by adding -in in the singular and -innen in the plural.

der Lehrer	(male) teacher
die Lehrerin	(female) teacher
Lehrer und Lehrerinnen	(male and female) teachers

der Leser	(male) reader
die Leserin	(female) reader
unsere Leser und Leserinnen	our readers (male and female)

Grammar Extra!

Some German adjectives are used as feminine nouns. They have feminine adjective endings which change according to the article which comes before them.

eine Deutsche	a German woman
die Abgeordnete	the woman MP

For more information on Adjectives used as nouns and for Feminine adjective endings, see pages 50 and 42.

Key points

Most nouns ending in -e are feminine.

Many feminine nouns end in: -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ung, -ei.

Masculine German words referring to people can be made feminine by adding -in in the singular and -innen in the plural.

Numbers used in counting are feminine.

Neuter nouns

Most nouns beginning with Ge- are neuter.

das Geschirr	crockery, dishes
das Geschöpf	creature
das Getreide	crop

Nouns ending in -lein or -chen are also neuter. These are called the diminutive form and refer to small persons or objects.

Endings to form the diminutive	Example	Meaning
-lein	das Kindlein	little child
-chen	das Häuschen	little house

Note that if these words have one of the vowels a, o or u, an umlaut should be added above the vowel. The final -e should also be dropped before these endings.

der Bach Bäch das Bächlein	(small) stream
die Katze Kätz das Kätzchen	kitten

Fractions are also neuter.

ein Drittel davon

a third of it

Nouns which refer to young humans and animals are neuter.

das Baby	baby
das Kind	child
das Kalb	calf
das Lamm	lamb

Note that the animals themselves can be any gender.

der Hund	dog
die Schlange	snake
das Vieh	cattle

Infinitives (the ‘ to’ form of verbs) used as nouns are neuter.

das Schwimmen	swimming
das Spielen	playing
das Radfahren	cycling

For more information on Infinitives, see page 134.

Most nouns with the following endings are neuter.

Neuter Ending	Example	Meaning
-nis	das Ereignis	event
-tum	das Eigentum	property

Grammar Extra!

German nouns taken from other languages and ending in -at, -ett, -fon, -ma, -ment, -um are neuter.

das Reservat	reservation
das Tablett	tray
das Telefon	phone
das Thema	subject, topic
das Medikament	drug
das Ultimatum	ultimatum	BUT: der Reichtum	wealth
das Studium	studies

Key points

Most nouns beginning with Ge- are neuter.

The diminutive form of nouns is neuter.

Nouns referring to young humans and animals are neuter.

Infinitives used as nouns are neuter.

Nouns ending in -nis or -tum are neuter.

Compound nouns

What is a compound noun?
A compound noun is a noun made up of two or more words, for example, tin-opener and railway station.

In German, these words nearly always take their gender from the LAST noun of the compound word.

die Armbanduhr (Armband + die Uhr)	wristwatch
der Tomatensalat (Tomaten + der Salat)	tomato salad
der Fußballspieler (Fußball + der Spieler)	footballer

Grammar Extra!

Some German nouns have more than one gender. A few nouns have two genders and sometimes one of them can only be used in certain regions.

der/das Marzipan	marzipan	(der Marzipan is used mostly in Austria)
der/das Keks	biscuit	(das Keks is used mostly in Austria)
der/das Kaugummi	chewing gum

Other nouns have two genders and the meaning of the word changes depending on which gender it has.

der Band	volume, book
das Band	ribbon, band, tape; bond
der See	lake
die See	sea
der Leiter	leader, manager
die Leiter	ladder

In German, abbreviations have the same gender as the word they come from.

die BRD	the Federal Republic of Germany
	(from die Bundesrepublik Deutschland)
die DB	the German Railways
	(from die Deutsche Bahn)
das ZDF	German TV channel
	(from das Zweite Deutsche Fernsehen)

Key points

Compound nouns are nouns made up of two or more words and usually take their gender from the last part of the compound word.

Some German nouns have more than one gender and this can affect their meaning.

German abbreviations have the same gender as the words they come from.

The Cases

In German, there are four grammatical cases – nominative, accusative, genitive and dative. The case you should use depends on the grammatical function of the noun in the sentence.

The nominative case

The nominative case is the basic form of the noun and is the one you find in the dictionary.

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	der Wagen ein Wagen	die Dose eine Dose	das Lied ein Lied
Accusative	den Wagen einen Wagen	die Dose eine Dose	das Lied ein Lied

For more information on Articles, see page 25.

The nominative case is used for:

• the subject of the sentence, that is the person, animal or thing ‘doing’ the action

Das Mädchen singt.	The girl is singing.
Die Katze schläft.	The cat is sleeping.

• after the verbs sein (meaning to be) and werden (meaning to be, to become)

Er ist ein guter Lehrer.	He is a good teacher.
Das wird ein Pullover.	It’s going to be a jumper.

The accusative case

The article for feminine and neuter nouns in the accusative case has the same form as in the nominative. Der for masculine nouns changes to den and ein to einen.

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	der Wagen ein Wagen	die Dose eine Dose	das Lied ein Lied
Accusative	den Wagen einen Wagen	die Dose eine Dose	das Lied ein Lied

For more information on Articles, see page 25.

The accusative case is used:

• to show the direct object of a verb. This is the person, animal or thing affected by the action of the verb.

  He gave me a book. What did he give me? a book (=direct object)

  Can you get me a towel? What can you get me? a towel (=direct object)

  Ich sehe den Hund. ’ What do I see? den Hund (=direct object)

  Er hat ein Lied gesungen. What did he sing? ein Lied (=direct object)

• after certain prepositions (words in English such as at, for, with, into or from) which are always used with the accusative.

Es ist für seine Freundin.	It’s for his girlfriend.
Es ist schwierig ohne einen Wagen.	It’s difficult without a car.
durch das Rauchen wurde ich	Smoking made me ill.
krank.

For more information on Prepositions followed by the accusative case, see page 156.

• after certain prepositions of place when movement is involved:

an	on, to, at
auf	on, in, to, at
hinter	behind
in	in, into, to
neben	next to, beside
über	over, across, above
unter	under, among
vor	in front of, before
zwischen	between
Stell dein Rad neben mein Auto.	Put your bike next to my car.
Sie legten ein Brett über das Loch.	They put a board over the hole.

Note that when there is no movement involved after these prepositions, the dative case is used.

Sie geht in die Stadt. (accusative)	She’s going into town.
Er war in der Stadt. (dative)	He was in town.

For more information on Prepositions followed by the accusative or the dative case, see page 158.

• in many expressions of time and place which do not have a preposition

Das macht sie jeden Donnerstag.	She does that every Thursday.
Die Schule ist einen Kilometer entfernt.	The school is a kilometre away.

• in some set expressions

Guten Abend!	Good evening!
Vielen Dank!	Thank you very much!

The genitive case

Der for masculine nouns and das for neuter nouns change to des. Ein changes to eines. The endings of masculine and neuter singular nouns also change in the genitive case.

-s is added to masculine and neuter nouns ending in -en, -el, -er.

der Wagen car des Wagens
das Rauchen smoking des Rauchens
der Esel donkey des Esels
der Computer computer des Computers
Ich mag die Farbe des Wagens.	I like the colour of the car.
Die Größe des Computers	The size of the computer isn’t
ist nicht wichtig.	important.

-es is added to most masculine and neuter nouns of one syllable ending in a consonant.

der Freund friend des Freundes
der Mann man des Mannes
der Sitz seat des Sitzes
der Arzt doctor des Arztes
der Tisch table des Tisches
das Schloss castle des Schlosses
Die Schwester des Arztes hilft manchmal in der Sprechstunde.	The doctor’s sister helps him in the surgery sometimes.
Das Museum befindet sich in der Nähe des Schlosses.	The museum is near the castle.

Die changes to der and eine to einer in the genitive. The endings of feminine singular nouns in the genitive case are the same as in the nominative.

die Ärztin (female) doctor der Ärztin

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	der Wagen ein Wagen	die Dose eine Dose	das Lied ein Lied
Accusative	den Wagen einen Wagen	die Dose eine Dose	das Lied ein Lied
Genitive	des Wagens eines Wagens	der Dose einer Dose	des Lieds eines Lieds

For more information on Articles, see page 25.

The genitive case is used:

• to show that something belongs to someone

Das Auto der Frau war rot.	The woman’s car was red.
Der Hund meiner Mutter ist ganz klein.	My mother’s dog is really small.

• after certain prepositions which always take the genitive

Wegen des schlechten Wetters	We’ll have to go home because
müssen wir nach Hause gehen.	of the bad weather.
Trotz ihrer Krankheit geht sie	She goes for a walk every day,
jeden Tag spazieren.	despite her illness.

• in some expressions of time

eines Tages

one day

The dative case

Der changes to dem and ein to einem in the dative. Singular nouns in the dative have the same form as in the nominative.

dem Auto	to the car
dem Mädchen	to the girl

Die changes to der and eine to einer in the dative. Singular nouns in the dative have the same form as in the nominative.

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	der Wagen ein Wagen	die Dose eine Dose	das Lied ein Lied
Accusative	den Wagen einen Wagen	die Dose eine Dose	das Lied ein Lied
Genitive	des Wagens eines Wagens	der Dose einer Dose	des Lieds eines Lieds
Dative	dem Wagen einem Wagen	der Dose einer Dose	dem Lied einem Lied

For more information on Articles, see page 25.

-e is added to some nouns in certain set phrases.

Wir gehen nach Hause.	We’re going home.
Er hat sich zu Tode gearbeitet.	He worked himself to death.

Grammar Extra!

-e may also be added to the dative singular of masculine and neuter nouns to make the phrase easier to pronounce.

zu welchem Zwecke?

to what purpose?

The dative case is used:

• to show the indirect object of a verb – an indirect object answers the question who to/for? or to/for what?

  He gave the man the book. ’ Who did he give the book to? ’ the man (= noun indirect object)

Er gab dem Mann das Buch.

He gave the man the book.

• after certain verbs

Er hilft seiner Mutter im	He helps his mother with the
Haushalt.	housework.

For more information on Verbs followed by the dative case, see page 148.

• after certain prepositions which always take the dative

Nach dem Essen gingen wir spazieren.	After eating we went for a walk.
Er kam mit einer Freundin.	He came with a friend.

For more information on Prepositions followed by the dative case, see page 153.

• after certain prepositions to show position

an	on, to, at
auf	on, in, to, at
hinter	behind
in	in, into, to
neben	next to, beside
über	over, across, above
unter	under, among
vor	in front of, before
zwischen	between
Ich sitze neben dem Fenster.	I’m sitting next to the window.
Die Katze lag unter dem Tisch.	The cat lay under the table.

Note that when there is some movement involved after these prepositions, the accusative case is used.

Er war in der Stadt. (dative)	He was in town.
Sie geht in die Stadt. (accusative)	She’s going into town.

For more information on Prepositions followed by the accusative or the dative case, see page 158.

• in certain expressions

Mir ist kalt.

I’m cold.

• instead of the possessive adjective (my, your, his, her, its, our or their) to refer to parts of the body and items of clothing

Ich habe mir die Haare gewaschen.	I washed my hair.
Zieh dir die Jacke aus.	Take your jacket off.

For more information on Possessive adjectives, see page 37.

Changes to the definite and indefinite articles der, die or das and ein, eine or ein for each case are summarized in the table below, to help make it easier for you to remember them.

Case	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Neuter Singular
Nominative	der ein	die eine	das ein
Accusative	den einen	die eine	das ein
Genitive	des eines	der einer	des eines
Dative	dem einem	der einer	dem einem

For more information on Articles, see page 25.

Key points

In German, there are four grammatical cases – nominative, accusative, genitive and dative.

The case you use depends on the grammatical function of the noun in the sentence.

The nominative case is used to show the subject of a sentence and after the verbs sein and werden.

The accusative case is used to show the direct object of a sentence, and after certain prepositions.

The genitive case is used to show that something belongs to somebody, and after certain prepositions.

The dative case is used to show the indirect object of a sentence, and after certain prepositions and verbs.

Forming plurals

In English we usually make nouns plural by adding an -s to the end (garden ’ gardens; house ’ houses), although we do have some nouns which are irregular and do not follow this pattern (mouse ’ mice; child ’ children).

In German, there are several different ways of making nouns plural.

The definite article changes in the plural, as shown in the table below.

Case	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Neuter Singular	All Genders Plural
Nominative	der	die	das	die
Accusative	den	die	das	die
Genitive	des	der	des	der
Dative	dem	der	dem	den

For more information on Articles, see page 25.

Tip

Nouns in the dative plural ALWAYS end in -n, except those nouns which come from other languages. Most of their plural forms end in -s. For example:

Mit den Autos hatte sie ständig	The cars caused her constant
Probleme.	problems.

Feminine plural nouns ending in -n, -en, -nen

Most German feminine nouns form their plural by adding -n, -en or -nen to their singular form.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	die Blume (flower)	die Blumen
	die Frau (woman)	die Frauen
	die Lehrerin (teacher)	die Lehrerinnen
Accusative	die Blume	die Blumen
	die Frau	die Frauen
	die Lehrerin	die Lehrerinnen
Genitive	der Blume	der Blumen
	der Frau	der Frauen
	der Lehrerin	der Lehrerinnen
Dative	der Blume	den Blumen
	der Frau	den Frauen
	der Lehrerin	den Lehrerinnen

Die Blumen waren nicht teuer.	The flowers weren’t expensive.
Die Lehrerinnen sind ziemlich jung.	The (female) teachers are quite young.
Das Leben der Frauen in vielen Ländern ist schwierig.	In many countries, women’s lives are difficult.
Wo gehst du mit den Blumen hin?	Where are you going with the flowers?

Nouns with no ending in the plural

Many nouns have no plural ending – these are mostly masculine or neuter nouns ending in -en, -er or -el.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	der Kuchen (cake)	die Kuchen
	der Lehrer (teacher)	die Lehrer
	der Onkel (uncle)	die Onkel
Accusative	den Kuchen	die Kuchen
	den Lehrer	die Lehrer
	den Onkel	die Onkel
Genitive	des Kuchens	der Kuchen
	des Lehrers	der Lehrer
	des Onkels	der Onkel
Dative	dem Kuchen	den Kuchen
	dem Lehrer	den Lehrern
	dem Onkel	den Onkeln

Die Kuchen sehen lecker aus.	The cakes look delicious.
Die Onkel kommen morgen an.	The uncles are coming tomorrow.
Das war die Schuld der Lehrer.	That was the teachers’ fault.
Es gibt ein kleines Problem mit den Kuchen.	There’s a slight problem withthe cakes.

Some of these nouns also have an umlaut added to the first vowel a, o or u in the plural.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	der Apfel (apple)	die Äpfel
	der Garten (garden)	die Gärten
Accusative	den Apfel	die Äpfel
	den Garten	die Gärten
Genitive	des Apfels	der Äpfel
	des Gartens	der Gärten
Dative	dem Apfel	den Äpfeln
	dem Garten	den Gärten

Die Äpfel sind nicht reif genug.	The apples aren’t ripe enough.
Die Gärten waren wunderschön.	The gardens were beautiful.
Schau mal die Größe der Äpfel an!	Look at the size of the apples!
Den Äpfeln fehlt ein bisschen Sonne.	The apples need a bit of sun.

Plural nouns ending in ¨-e

Some masculine nouns add an umlaut above the first vowel a, o or u and an -e ending to form the plural. A few feminine nouns with a in the stem also follow this pattern. Nouns in this group often have one syllable only.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	der Stuhl (chair)	die Stühle
	die Angst (fear)	die Ängste
Accusative	den Stuhl	die Stühle
	die Angst	die Ängste
Genitive	des Stuhl(e)s	der Stühle
	der Angst	der Ängste
Dative	dem Stuhl	den Stühlen
	der Angst	den Ängsten

Die Stühle sind neu.	The chairs are new.
Die Regierung muss die Ängste	The government has to take
der Bevölkerung ernst nehmen.	the population’s fears seriously.
Die Farbe der Stühle.	The colour of the chairs.
Der Tischler macht den Stühlen neue Beine.	The carpenter is making new legs for the chairs.

Masculine and neuter plural nouns ending in -e, -er or ¨-er

Masculine or neuter nouns often add -e or -er to form the plural.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	das Geschenk (present)	die Geschenke
	der Tisch (table)	die Tische
	das Kind (child)	die Kinder
Accusative	das Geschenk	die Geschenke
	den Tisch	die Tische
	das Kind	die Kinder
Genitive	des Geschenks	der Geschenke
	des Tisches	der Tische
	des Kindes	der Kinder
Dative	dem Geschenk	den Geschenken
	dem Tisch	den Tischen
	dem Kind	den Kindern

Die Geschenke sind auf dem Tisch.	The presents are on the table.
Ich muss die Kinder abholen.	I have to pick up the children.
Die Auswahl der Tische im Laden war groß.	The shop had a large selection of tables.
Sie geht mit den Kindern spazieren.	She’s going for a walk with the children.

Some masculine and neuter nouns add an umlaut above the first vowel a, o or u and an -er ending in the plural.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	das Dach (roof)	die Dächer
	der Mann (man)	die Männer
Accusative	das Dach	die Dächer
	den Mann	die Männer
Genitive	des Dach(e)s	der Dächer
	des Mannes	der Männer
Dative	dem Dach	den Dächern
	dem Mann	den Männern

Die Dächer werden repariert.	The roofs are being repaired.
Man hatte die Männer völlig vergessen.	The men had been completely forgotten.
Was ist die Rolle der Männer in unserer Gesellschaft?	What is the role of men in our society?
Die Frauen sollten den Männern nicht immer recht geben.	Women should not always agree with men.

Some unusual plurals

There is another group of German nouns which don’t follow any of the rules for forming plurals – you just have to remember them! Here are some of the most common ones. As you will see, many of them are words from other languages, and it is common for such words to form their plural by adding -s.

Singular	Meaning	Plural
das Auto	car	die Autos
das Hotel	hotel	die Hotels
das Restaurant	restaurant	die Restaurants
das Baby	baby	die Babys
das Thema	theme, topic, subject	die Themen
das Drama	drama	die Dramen
das Risiko	risk	die Risiken
der Park	park	die Parks
der Chef	boss, chief, head	die Chefs
die Firma	firm	die Firmen

Die Hotels in der Stadt sind ziemlich teuer.	The hotels in town are quite expensive.
Die Risiken sind sehr hoch.	The risks are very high.
Die Kinder finden die Babys ganz niedlich.	The children think the babies are really cute.
Was hältst du von den Preisen der Autos?	What do you think of the prices of the cars?
Das ist die Stadt mit den vielen Parks.	That’s the town with all the parks.

Plural versus singular

Some nouns are always plural in English, but singular in German.

eine Brille	glasses, spectacles
eine Schere	scissors
eine Hose	trousers

These nouns are only used in the plural in German to mean more than one pair.

zwei Hosen

two pairs of trousers

Nouns of measurement and quantity

These nouns, used to describe the quantity or size of something, usually remain singular in German, even if preceded by a plural number.

Möchten Sie zwei Stück?	Would you like two?
Ich wiege fünfzig Kilo.	I weigh fifty kilos.

The substance which they measure follows in the same case as the noun of quantity, and NOT in the genitive case as in English.

Sie hat drei Tassen Kaffee getrunken.	She drank three cups of coffee.
Er wollte zwei Kilo Kartoffeln.	He wanted two kilos of potatoes.
Drei Glas Weißwein, bitte!	Three glasses of white wine, please.

Key points

Most German feminine nouns form their plural by adding -n, -en or -nen to their singular form.

Many nouns have no plural ending – these are mostly masculine or neuter singular nouns ending in -en, -er or -el. Some of these nouns also have an umlaut added to the vowel in the plural.

Some masculine nouns add an umlaut above the first vowel a, o or u and an -e ending to form the plural. A few feminine nouns with a in the stem also follow this pattern.

Masculine and neuter nouns often add -e or -er in the plural, and can sometimes add an umlaut above the first vowel a, o or u.

There are some unusual plural nouns in German which don’t follow any pattern.

Some nouns are always plural in English, but singular in German.

Nouns of measurement and quantity usually remain singular even if preceded by a plural number.

The substance which they measure follows in the same case as the noun of quantity.

Weak nouns

As we have seen, German nouns may change, according to their gender, case and number. This is called declension.

Some masculine nouns have a weak declension – this means that they end in -en or, if the word ends in a vowel, in -n, in every case EXCEPT in the nominative singular case.

Weak masculine nouns follow the pattern shown.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	der Junge	die Jungen
Accusative	den Jungen	die Jungen
Genitive	des Jungen	der Jungen
Dative	dem Jungen	den Jungen

Weak masculine nouns include:

• those ending in -og(e) referring to men

der Psychologe	the psychologist
Der Psychologe half ihm in seiner Krise.	The psychologist helped him through his crisis.

• those ending in -aph (or -af) or -oph

der Paragraf	the paragraph
der Philosoph	the philosopher
Der Paragraf umfasste 350 Wörter.	The paragraph was 350 words long.

• those ending in -ant

der Elefant	the elephant
der Diamant	the diamond
Der Diamant war sehr viel Geld wert.	The diamond was worth a lot of money.

• those ending in -t referring to men

der Astronaut	the astronaut
der Komponist	the composer
der Architekt	the architect
Um Astronaut zu werden, muss man jahrelang trainieren.	You have to train for years to become an astronaut.

• some other common masculine nouns

der Chirurg	surgeon
der Franzose	Frenchman
der Kollege	colleague
der Mensch	human being
der Ochse	ox
der Spatz	sparrow
Der junge Franzose wollte Schottland besuchen.	The young French guy wanted to visit Scotland.
Ich habe den Franzosen seit einer Woche nicht mehr gesehen.	I haven’t seen the French guy for a week.

Grammar Extra!

The noun der Name follows the same pattern as der Junge, except in the genitive singular, where it adds -ns instead of just -n. Der Buchstabe (meaning letter (of the alphabet)), der Funke (meaning spark) and der Gedanke (meaning thought) also follow this pattern.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	der Name	die Namen
Accusative	den Namen	die Namen
Genitive	des Namens	der Namen
Dative	dem Namen	den Namen

Das hängt von der Wichtigkeit des Namens ab.

That depends on how important the name is.

Proper nouns

What is a proper noun?
A proper noun is the name of a person, place, organization or thing. Proper nouns are always written with a capital letter, for example, Kevin, Glasgow, Europe, London Eye.

In German, names of people and places only change in the genitive singular when they add -s, unless they are preceded by the definite article or a demonstrative adjective (in English, this, that, these and those).

Annas Buch	Anna’s book
Klaras Mantel	Klara’s coat
die Werke Goethes	Goethe’s works
BUT
der Untergang der Titanic	the sinking of the Titanic

For more information on Articles and demonstrative adjectives, see pages 25 and 31.

Grammar Extra!

Where proper names end in -s, -sch, -ss, -ß, -x, -z, or -tz, adding an extra -s for the genitive makes them very difficult to pronounce. This is best avoided by using von + the dative case.

das Buch von Hans	Hans’s book
die Werke von Marx	the works of Marx
die Freundin von Klaus	Klaus’s girlfriend

Herr (meaning Mr) is always declined when it is part of a proper name.

an Herrn Schmidt	to Mr Schmidt
Sehr geehrte Herren	Dear Sirs

Surnames usually form their plurals by adding -s, unless they end in -s, -sch, -ss, -ß, -x, -z, or -tz, in which case they add -ens. They are often preceded by the definite article.

Die Schmidts haben uns zum Abendessen eingeladen.	The Schmidts have invited us to dinner.
Die Schultzens waren nicht zu Hause.	The Schultzes weren’t at home.

For more information on Articles, see page 25.