Noun Plurals
German has no single plural ending. Instead there are seven recurring patterns, and every noun's plural has to be learned along with the noun itself.
There's no formula: only patterns to recognize
Two nouns that look similar in the singular can pluralize completely differently, so the plural form is really part of the word's identity, not something you can derive on the fly.
der Tag → die Tage
das Buch → die Bücher
Both are common, ordinary nouns, but they pluralize in completely different ways.
The Seven Plural Patterns
Every German noun's plural falls into one of these seven shapes.
| Pattern | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| No change | der Lehrer | die Lehrer |
| Umlaut only | der Vater | die Väter |
| -e | der Tag | die Tage |
| -e + Umlaut | der Stuhl | die Stühle |
| -er + Umlaut | das Buch | die Bücher |
| -(e)n | die Frau | die Frauen |
| -s | das Auto | die Autos |
Every plural noun takes die in the nominative, regardless of the singular's gender.
Loose Tendencies, Not Rules
These patterns aren't reliable enough to skip memorizing each noun's plural, but they do narrow things down.
See It In a Sentence
The plural noun and its article are highlighted below.
Otto liest die Bücher jeden Abend.
Otto reads the books every evening.
Wie viele Tage bleibst du in Berlin?
How many days are you staying in Berlin?
Die Frauen sitzen zusammen im Café.
The women are sitting together in the café.
A Common Mix-Up
Don't guess a noun's plural from its gender: der Tag (masculine) takes -e, while der Vater (also masculine) only takes an umlaut. The safest habit is to learn every new noun as a pair: article, singular, and plural together, e.g. das Kind, die Kinder.