The Plural of Feminine Nouns in German

Forming the plural of feminine nouns in German is highly predictable compared to masculine or neuter nouns. Importantly, feminine nouns never use a "zero" plural (where the word doesn't change at all) and they never take an -er plural.

1. The Standard Ending: -(e)n (Over 90% of nouns)

The vast majority of feminine nouns form their plural by adding -en or -n. They do not take an Umlaut.

• Standard nouns add -en:
  die Arbeit → die Arbeiten (the work/job → the works/jobs)
  die Last → die Lasten (the burden → the burdens)
• Nouns ending in -e, -el, or -er add only -n:
  die Wiese → die Wiesen (the meadow → the meadows)
  die Regel → die Regeln (the rule → the rules)
• Professions and nouns ending in -in double the 'n':
  die Studentin → die Studentinnen (the female student → the female students)

2. The -e Ending with Umlaut (Monosyllabic nouns)

About a quarter of single-syllable feminine nouns form their plural by adding -e. If the vowel is a, o, or u, it will usually take an Umlaut (ä, ö, ü). More than half of these frequently used words end in -t.

• die Hand → die Hände (the hand → the hands)
• die Nacht → die Nächte (the night → the nights)
• die Stadt → die Städte (the city → the cities)
• die Nuss → die Nüsse (the nut → the nuts)

Compound nouns ending in -brunst, -flucht, and -kunft also follow this pattern:

• die Auskunft → die Auskünfte (the information → the pieces of information)

3. Nouns ending in -nis or -sal

Feminine nouns with these specific suffixes add -e in the plural. Note that nouns ending in -nis must double the 's' to become -nisse.

• die Kenntnis → die Kenntnisse (the knowledge → the knowledges/skills)
• die Mühsal → die Mühsale (the hardship → the hardships)

4. Umlaut Only (No ending)

There are exactly two feminine nouns in the entire German language that form their plural simply by adding an Umlaut, with no extra letters at the end:

• die Mutter → die Mütter (the mother → the mothers)
• die Tochter → die Töchter (the daughter → the daughters)