A noun is a word used for a person, thing or idea eg ‘man’, ‘dog’, ‘town’, ‘anger’.
Nouns, gender and capital letters
Nouns are easy to spot in German because they all begin with a capital letter.
This example contains seven nouns:
Gestern bin ich in die Stadt gegangen. Ich bin ins Kino gegangen und habe einen Film gesehen. Ich habe Chips und Popcorn gegessen und Cola getrunken. Es hat Spaß gemacht.
German nouns have 3 genders:
- Masculine
- Feminine
- Neuter
When you learn a new word, always learn the gender too.
Noun patterns
Masculine noun patterns
| Description | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Things which are actually male | der Mann/der Junge/der Vater/der Sohn etc | Man/boy/father/son |
| Jobs (there are also female forms) | der Arzt/der Journalist/der Lehrer etc | Doctor/journalist/teacher |
| Nationalities (there are also female forms) | der Italiener/der Engländer/der Spanier etc | Italian, Englishman, Spaniard |
| Adjectival nouns (*see section on this below) | der Deutsche/der Verwandte/der Erwachsene | German, relative, adult |
| Days, months, seasons | der Samstag/der Januar/der Sommer etc | Saturday/January/Summer |
| Weather (mostly) | der Regen/der Schnee/der Wind | Rain/snow/wind |
| Nouns ending -er | der Hamster/der Fahrer etc | Hamster/driver |
| Nouns ending -ling | der Liebling/der Zwilling etc | Darling/twin |
| Nouns ending -ich | der Pfirsich/der Teppich etc | Peach/carpet |
| Nouns ending -en | der Flughafen/der Kuchen etc | Airport/cake |
| Nouns ending -ismus | der Journalismus/der Rassismus etc | Journalism/racism |
Feminine noun patterns
| Description | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Things which are actually female | die Frau/die Mutter/die Tochter/die Tante etc | Woman/mother/daughter/aunt |
| Jobs (like male form with -in added) | die Ärztin/die Journalistin/die Lehrerin etc | Doctor/journalist/teacher |
| Nationalities (male form with -in added) | (die Italienerin/die Engländerin/der Spanierin etc | Italian/English woman/Spaniard |
| Adjectival nouns (*see setion on this below) | die Deutsche/die Verwandte/die Erwachsene | German/relative/adult |
| Nouns ending -e (most) | die Gruppe/die Woche etc | (group/week) |
| Nouns ending -heit | die Gesundheit/die Freiheit etc | Health/freedom |
| Nouns ending -keit | die Persönlichkeit etc | Personality |
| Nouns ending -schaft | die Landschaft/die Mannschaft etc | Landscape/team |
| Nouns ending -ung | die Buchhandling/die Zeitung etc | Bookshop/newspaper |
| Nouns ending -ei | die Metzgerei/die Konditorei etc | Butchers/cake shop |
| Nouns ending -ik | die Gymnastik/die Musik etc | Gymnastics/music |
| Nouns ending -tät | die Kriminalität/die Universität etc | Crime/university |
Neuter noun patterns
| Description | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Nouns ending -chen | das Mädchen/das Kaninchen etc | Girl/rabbit |
| Nouns ending -nis | das Tischtennis/das Erlebnis etc | Table tennis/experience |
| Adjectives used as nouns | das Beste/das Neue/das Richtige | The best one/new one/right one |
| Verbs used as nouns | das Fernsehen/das Skilaufen etc | Watching TV/skiing |
| Many towns, countries & colours | das Berlin/das Deutschland/das Rot | Berlin/Germany/red |
Compound noun genders
A compound noun is one made up of more than one bit. For example, Rathaus literally means ‘advice house’ but translates to town hall.
All compound nouns take their gender from the last word in the chain, eg Rathaus is made of der Rat and das Haus. The gender of Rathaus will be das because Haus is the last part.
Zimmer (room) is neuter: das Schlafzimmer/das Wohnzimmer/das Arbeitszimmer/das Esszimmer etc (bedroom, lounge, study, dining room).
Plurals of nouns
A noun in the plural form shows there is more than one, eg cat (singular) and cats (plural).
The German for ‘the’ in the plural form is always die, eg der Hund (the dog) but die Hunde (the dogs).
Always learn the plural of a new word.
There are several possibilities for plural endings.
Findings plurals in dictionaries
If you look a word up in the dictionary, you will find the plural form in brackets.
The bit in the brackets is added to the end of the word. Sometimes you also need to add an umlaut (only on ä, ö and ü).
Nouns in singular and plural forms
| Singular | Changed to | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| der Tisch(e) (the table) | Add the e from the brackets | -> die Tische (the tables) |
| die Birne(n)
(the pear) |
Add the n from the brackets | -> die Birnen (the pears) |
| das Gebäude (the building) | Do not add anything | -> die Gebäude (the buildings) |
| der Bahnhof(e) (the station) | Add the e, and an umlaut | -> die Bahnhöfe (the stations) |
Plural patterns
The most common ones add ‘-e’ or ‘-en’. For example, der Hund(e) (dog(s)) and die Zeitschrift(en) (magazine(s)).
Feminine nouns
Almost all feminine nouns add ‘-en’. If they end in ‘-in’, eg Freundin or Lehrerin add ‘-nen’. For example: die Sendung(en) (programme) and die Freundin(nen) (girlfriend(s)).
Masculine and neuter nouns
Possibilities include adding ‘-er’, ‘-e’, an umault or nothing at all. For example: das Geld(er) (money), der Film(e) (film(s)), der Vater(“) (father(s)) and der Onkel(-) (uncle(s)).
Foreign nouns
Words that have been taken from another language, eg baby/radio, add ‘-s’.
Adjectives used as nouns
You can take an adjective and turn it into a noun.
The gender depends on the kind of adjective you use (see example). If it’s a noun designating a person it will be masculine or feminine (der/die) depending on the person’s sex. If it’s something more abstract, it’s usually neuter (das).
- Add an -e to the end of the adjective
- Change its first letter to a capital
- Put der/die/das in front
Masculine and feminine nouns as adjectives
| Noun | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
| angestellt (employed) | der Angestellte (male employee) | die Angestellte (female employee) |
| deutsch (German) | der Deutsche (male German) | die Deutsche (female German) |
| verwandt (related) | der Verwandte (male relation) | die Verwandte (female relation) |
For masculine nouns there is an important exception. If you use ‘ein‘ instead of ‘der‘, you have to add ‘-er’, for example:
- der Angestelltebecomesein Angestellter
Adjective to noun
| Adjective | Noun |
|---|---|
| best (best) | das Beste (the best thing) |
| ganz (whole) | das Ganze (the whole) |
| wichtig (important) | das Wichtige (that which is important) |
Examples of adjective to noun use
Sentences that use adjectives as nouns
| Adjective to noun | Translation |
|---|---|
| Meine Verwandte aus Berlin ist Lehrerin. | My relative from Berlin is a teacher. |
| Ein Erwachsener kostet €10 | An adult costs €10. |
| Das Beste ist, daß ich mehr verdiene. | The best thing is that I earn more. |
Verbs used as nouns
In German, you can take a verb and turn it into a noun:
- Take the verb (infinitive) and change its first letter to a capital
Verb to noun
| Verb | Noun |
|---|---|
| lesen (to read) | dasLesen (reading) |
| einkaufen (to shop) | dasEinkaufen (shopping) |
| lachen (to laugh) | dasLachen |
| schwimmen (to swim) | dasSchwimmen (swimming) |
Verb to noun used in a sentence
| Verb to noun | Translation |
|---|---|
| Lesen finde ich entspannend | I find reading relaxing |
| Lachen tut gut | Laughing does you good |
Notice that Germans leave out the definite article (the) when used in a sentence in English.
Weak nouns
Weak nouns are a group of masculine nouns which behave slightly differently to other nouns.
You have to add ‘-n’ or ‘-en’ to them at all times except when they are in the nominative singular.
Common weak nouns
| Noun | Translation |
|---|---|
| der Name | name |
| der Junge | boy |
| der Brite | British (man) |
| der Schotte | Scottish (man) |
| der Student | student |
| der Polizist | policeman |
| der Nachbar | neighbour |
| der Mensch | person |
| der Herr | sir/Mr |
Common weak nouns in use
| Masculine noun in use | Translation |
|---|---|
| Ein Schotte wohnt in diesem Haus. | (A Scotsman lives in this house) |
| Ich sitze neben einem Schotten. | (I’m sitting next to a Scotsman) |
| Der Junge heisst Paul. | (The boy is called Paul) |
| Gib dem Jungen ein Eis. | (Give the boy an ice cream) |
Common mistakes made by English speakers
- Not learning genders
- Forming the plural using ‘-s’ (like in English)