plural of masc nouns

Plural Formation of Masculine Nouns in German

Forming the plural of masculine nouns in German follows several patterns. While there are rules, many plurals are lexicalized, meaning they must be memorized alongside the noun.

1. Plural in -e (The Most Common Pattern)

The majority of masculine nouns add -e to form the plural. Some of these nouns will also take an Umlaut (ä, ö, ü) if the vowel allows it, while many others do not.

• With Umlaut: der Stuhl – die Stühle (the chair – the chairs)
• Without Umlaut: der Arm – die Arme (the arm – the arms), der Hund – die Hunde (the dog – the dogs), der Punkt – die Punkte (the point – the points)

Note that many common nouns do not use an Umlaut even if they could: der Monat – die Monate (the month – the months), der Mond – die Monde (the moon – the moons), der Verlust – die Verluste (the loss – the losses).

2. Stressed Latin/Foreign Endings (-al, -an, -ar, -or, -os)

Nouns ending in these stressed suffixes usually take -e without an Umlaut:

• der Bibliothekar – die Bibliothekare (the librarian – the librarians)
• der Major – die Majore (the major – the majors)

However, a small group does take an Umlaut: der Altar – die Altäre (the altar – the altars), der Kanal – die Kanäle (the canal – the canals), der Kardinal – die Kardinäle (the cardinal – the cardinals), der Tenor – die Tenöre (the tenor – the tenors).

3. Nouns Ending in -el, -en, -er

Most masculine nouns with these endings have no plural ending and usually no Umlaut:

• der Onkel – die Onkel (the uncle – the uncles)
• der Haken – die Haken (the hook – the hooks)
• der Computer – die Computer (the computer – the computers)

Exceptions: About twenty common nouns in this group change their vowel to an Umlaut: der Apfel – die Äpfel (the apple – the apples), der Garten – die Gärten (the garden – the gardens), der Vater – die Väter (the father – the fathers), der Vogel – die Vögel (the bird – the birds), der Mangel – die Mängel (the defect – the defects).
Regional variations exist: der Kasten (the box) might be die Kasten in Northern Germany, and der Wagen (the car/carriage) remains die Wagen when referring to carriages.

A few nouns in this group add -n or change form: der Bauer – die Bauern (the farmer – the farmers), der Muskel – die Muskeln (the muscle – the muscles), der Charakter – die Charaktere (the character – the characters).

4. Plural in -er with Umlaut

A small but frequent group of masculine nouns adds -er and always takes an Umlaut:

• der Mann – die Männer (the man – the men)
• der Gott – die Götter (the god – the gods)
• der Wald – die Wälder (the forest – the forests)
• der Wurm – die Würmer (the worm – the worms)

5. Plural in -(e)n (Weak Masculines and Others)

Many masculine nouns take -n or -en. This includes Weak Masculine Nouns (N-Deklination), which add this ending in all cases except the nominative singular:

• der Affe – die Affen (the monkey – the monkeys)
• der Mensch – die Menschen (the human – the humans)
• der Student – die Studenten (the student – the students)

Other nouns also use -en without being "weak": der Staat – die Staaten (the state – the states), der Dorn – die Dornen (the thorn – the thorns), der Typ – die Typen (the guy – the guys).
Irregular nouns: der Buchstabe – die Buchstaben (the letter of the alphabet), der Friede – die Frieden (the peace), der Gedanke – die Gedanken (the thought).

6. Stress Shift with -on and -or

Nouns ending in unstressed -on or -or add -en and shift the stress to that suffix in the plural:

• der Dämon – die Dämonen (the demon – the demons)
• der Professor – die Professoren (the professor – the professors)