Christmas: 'Es gibt' with plurals, the song 'O Tannenbaum' | German

Starter quiz

Which of these nouns are plural?
- Kopf
- Köpfe ✓
- Tage ✓
- Tag
- Tische ✓
Which of these words contain a 'u' with an umlaut?
- der Z_g
- das St_ck ✓
- f_nf ✓
- die N_mmer
Match the German words below to the correct English translations.
- der Arzt
  
  ⇔
  
  doctor ✓
- der Platz
  
  ⇔
  
  place, room ✓
- der Zug
  
  ⇔
  
  train ✓
- das Spiel
  
  ⇔
  
  game ✓
- das Stück
  
  ⇔
  
  piece ✓
Match the German words below to the correct English translations.
- auch
  
  ⇔
  
  also ✓
- es gibt
  
  ⇔
  
  there is, there are ✓
- grün
  
  ⇔
  
  green ✓
- wie viele
  
  ⇔
  
  how many ✓
- wünschen
  
  ⇔
  
  to wish, wishing ✓
Which noun endings do not tend to change in the plural form?
- -el, e.g., 'Engel' ✓
- -ck, e.g., 'Stück'
- -er, e.g., 'Zimmer' ✓
- -en, e.g., 'Mädchen' ✓
- -g, e.g., 'Zug'
Which of these is a traditional German fruit bread?
- Stollen ✓
- Lebkuchen
- Tannenbaum

Exit quiz

Which of these nouns are plural?
- Arzt
- Plätze ✓
- Stück
- Spiele ✓
- Zug
What is 'never' in German?
- oft
- nie ✓
- manchmal
Which letter(s) do you add to the end of most masculine and neuter nouns to make them plural?
- -s plus umlaut on a/o/u
- -e ✓
- -e plus umlaut on a/o/u ✓
- -en
Which of these nouns are in their plural form?
- die Flasche
- das Schnitzel
- die Engel ✓
- die Köpfe ✓
- der Platz
Which statements about 'O Tannenbaum' are true?
- it is a traditional song ✓
- it is a rock song
- it is a pop song
- it is about love
- it is about nature ✓
Translate the following sentence into German: 'There are lots of angels.'
- 'Es gibt viele Engel. ' ✓

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

'Es gibt' means 'there is' or 'there are' and 'viele' means 'lots of' or 'many'.
[ü] can be either short (followed by 2 or more consonants) or long (followed by a single consonant or 'h').
For noun plural rule 1, most masculine and neuter nouns add -e to the end and an umlaut on the vowel (ä,ö, ü).
For noun plural rule 2, words ending in -el, -en or -er are often the same in the plural.
‘O Tannenbaum’ is a popular German Christmas song and translates as ‘O fir tree’.

Common misconception

All nouns change in their plural form.

Different nouns have different rules for forming plurals. It is important to learn these and acknowledge that there will always be exceptions to any rule.

Keywords

[ü] - pronounced short [ü] as in 'fünf' and long [ü] as in 'Tür'
Es gibt - 'there is' or 'there are'
Viele - lots of, many