I want to quickly explain a mistake which I see ALL THE TIME!
I call it “the fool’s plural.”
Let me explain.
If you have a noun in the dative case, for example due to a preposition or verb that requires the dative case (like zu, von, helfen or geben), and that noun happens to be plural, then you need to be extra careful!
There is a rule that says that dative plural nouns add an extra –n unless they have one already.
mit den Blumen | with the flowers |
mit den Kindern | with the children |
zu den Anderen | to the others |
The problem is, lots of nouns form their regular plural form with an –n anyway, so this dative –n is often invisible:
die Blume | the flower |
die Blumen | the flowers |
mit den Blumen | with the flowers |
Nothing to see here!
The fool’s plural is when you see a dative plural noun and assume the –n is just a regular plural –n:
der Hund | the dog |
mit den Hunden | with the dogs |
Someone might see this and then say:
Ich mag Hunden! (WRONG!) |
They have fallen for the trap and used the fool’s plural! How embarrassing…
I see this especially often with Jahre/Jahren:
das Jahr | the year |
die Jahre | the years |
seit vielen Jahren | since many years |
Wir haben viele Jahre in Berlin verbracht. (Accusative plural!) | We spent many years in Berlin. |
Wir leben seit vielen Jahren in Berlin. (Dative plural!) | We have been living in Berlin for many years. |
Ich habe viele Jahren in Berlin gelebt. (WRONG!) | “I have lived in Berlin for many year.” 😆 |
The plural form of Jahr is Jahre. You only use Jahren after the dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach, seit, von, zu, gegenüber, außer), or the two-way prepositions when there is no movement (an, auf, hinter, in, neben, über, unter, vor, zwischen.)
Another common mistake is forgetting the dative –n when there is no article:
English | Incorrect German | Correct German |
---|---|---|
with windows | mit Fenster (!) | mit Fenstern |
with children | mit Kinder (!) | mit Kindern |
for years | seit Jahre (!) | seit Jahren |
to friends | zu Freunde (!) | zu Freunden |
Plural Formation
Remember that it’s usually feminine nouns that form their regular plural with –n:
Singular | Plural | English |
---|---|---|
die Blume | die Blumen | flowers |
die Katze | die Katzen | cats |
die Fernbedienung | die Fernbedienungen | remote controls |
die Maschine | die Maschinen | machines |
die Banane | die Bananen | bananas |
die Mutter | die Mütter (but not all feminine nouns!) | mothers |
By contrast, it’s actually quite rare for masculine and neuter nouns to form their plural with an –n or –en.
Usually they form their plural with an –e or sometimes other things like an –er, –e + umlaut, an umlaut on its own, or nothing at all.
Singular | Plural | English |
---|---|---|
der Mann | die Männer | men |
der Vater | die Väter | fathers |
der Witz | die Witze | jokes |
das Buch | die Bücher | books |
der Tisch | die Tische | tables |
das Fenster | die Fenster | windows |
das Haus | die Häuser | houses |
der Fuß | die Füße | feet |
der Zahn | die Zähne | teeth |
There’s a nice list of plural rules here.
Don’t forget to add the dative –n to masculine and neuter nouns if necessary, and whatever you do, don’t confuse it for the regular plural!
Singular | Dative Plural | English |
---|---|---|
der Mann | mit Männern | with men |
der Witz | von den Witzen | from the jokes |
das Buch | aus Büchern | from books |
der Tisch | auf den Tischen | on the tables |
das Fenster | mit Fenstern | with windows |
das Haus | hinter den Häusern | behind the houses |
der Fuß | unter meinen Füßen | under my feet |
der Zahn | zwischen meinen Zähnen | between my teeth |
I hope this clears things up. Make sure you never use the fool’s plural again!
Drop me an email at info@learngerman.io if you need any help.
That’s it for today! 🙂