Modern German Grammar: A Practical Guide, Second Edition

(Rick Simeone) #1
(b) Diminutives in:

-chen die Häuschen ‘small houses’
-lein die Entlein ‘ducklings’

 See also 25.6a (p. 46) and 54.3 (p. 137).


29.5 Plural in umlaut only


The stressed vowel receives an umlaut in the plural without any other change being
made:

die Äpfel ‘apples’
die Brüder ‘brothers’
die Läden ‘shops’
die Töchter ‘daughters’

29.6 Plural in -er or umlaut + -er


(a) The -er ending appears mostly in monosyllabic neuter nouns and a few
monosyllabic masculine ones:

das Ei, die Eier ‘eggs’
das Kleid, die Kleider ‘dresses’
das Lied, die Lieder ‘songs’
der Geist, die Geister ‘spirits’

(b) Wherever there is a vowel which can take an umlaut, there is an umlaut with the
-er plural ending:

das Dach, die Dächer ‘roofs’
der Mann, die Männer ‘men’
der Reichtum, die Reichtümer ‘riches’
der Wald, die Wälder ‘forests’

29.7 Plural in -s


(a) Nouns taken from English, French and Italian over the past hundred years:

die Babys
die Hotels
die Parks
die Radios
die Schecks
die Shows

(b) Acronyms and words which have been shortened:

die LKWs ‘lorries’
die Muttis ‘mums’
die PKWs ‘cars’

 See also 26.2 (p. 47).


29
NOUNS
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