Christmas traditions: singular and plural nouns | German

Starter quiz

What is an umlaut?
- two dots above the vowels a, o or u ✓
- a line above the vowels a, o or u
- two dots above the vowels e, a or u
- a letter which looks like 'B' and means 'ss'
Masculine and neuter nouns ending in __________ don't usually change in their plural form.
- -el ✓
- -e
- -sch
- -en ✓
- -er ✓
Which of these words is the plural word for 'the' in German?
- der
- die ✓
- das
Match the vocabulary below to the correct English translations.
- manchmal
  
  ⇔
  
  sometimes ✓
- oft
  
  ⇔
  
  often ✓
- nie
  
  ⇔
  
  never ✓
- kaum
  
  ⇔
  
  hardly ✓
- einmal die Woche
  
  ⇔
  
  once a week ✓
Match the infinitives to the correct English translations.
- zeigen
  
  ⇔
  
  to show ✓
- sprechen
  
  ⇔
  
  to speak ✓
- zuhören
  
  ⇔
  
  to listen ✓
- lesen
  
  ⇔
  
  to read ✓
- schreiben
  
  ⇔
  
  to write ✓
- wiederholen
  
  ⇔
  
  to repeat ✓
Complete the following sentence: 'Die Familie __________ da.'
- sind
- ist ✓
- sein

Exit quiz

Which words have a long [ä] sound?
- zählen ✓
- Verhältnis
- spät ✓
- Nähe ✓
- lächeln
Match the vocabulary below to the correct English translations.
- der Hund
  
  ⇔
  
  dog ✓
- die Kirche
  
  ⇔
  
  church ✓
- die Familie
  
  ⇔
  
  family ✓
- die Woche
  
  ⇔
  
  week ✓
- die Katze
  
  ⇔
  
  cat ✓
- die Idee
  
  ⇔
  
  idea ✓
Select the singular nouns.
- der Film ✓
- die Spiele
- die Zimmer
- der Engel ✓
- das Haustier ✓
Translate the following sentence into English: 'Die Kirchen sind warm.'
- 'The churches are warm.' ✓
German children have the choice to send their Christmas wish list to one of how many possible people?
- two
- three ✓
- four
The song 'Wir wünschen dir frohe Weihnacht' is a translated version of which English Christmas song?
- Jingle Bells
- Deck the Halls
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas ✓
- Silent Night

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

[ä] 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.
For noun plural rule 3, most feminine nouns add '-n' or '-en'.

Common misconception

All nouns change when they are in their plural form.

There are three different plural rules. 1. Most masculine and neuter nouns add -e to the end and an umlaut to the vowel; 2. M. and nt. nouns ending in -el, -er or -en often stay the same when plural; 3. Most feminine nouns add -n or -en to the end.

Keywords

[ä] - pronounced long [ä] as in ‘spät’ and short [ä] as in ‘lächeln'
Plural rule 1 - most masculine and neuter nouns add -e to the end and an umlaut on the vowel (ä, ö, ü)
Plural rule 2 - masculine and neuter nouns ending in -el, -er or -en often stay the same in their plural form
Plural rule 3 - most feminine nouns either add -n or -en to the end of the noun