Eine neue Sprache lernen: plural rules 4 - 6 | German

Starter quiz

Match the German words below to their English equivalents.

beantworten

⇔

to answer, answering ✓

klingen

⇔

to sound, sounding ✓

unterrichten

⇔

to teach, teaching ✓

anders

⇔

different, differently ✓

verschieden

⇔

different, diverse ✓

der Fehler

⇔

mistake ✓
Which words below are plural?

Unterschiede (m) ✓

Lehrer (m) ✓

Hund (m)

Hausaufgaben (f) ✓

Fragen (f) ✓
Match the groups of words below to the correct word class categories.

Reihe, Satz, Abend

⇔

nouns ✓

klingen, merken, bilden

⇔

verbs ✓

deutlich, verschieden, falsch

⇔

adjectives ✓
Verbs like 'reden' and 'finden' require an extra ______ in the 'du' er/sie/es' and 'ihr' form to make them easier to pronounce.

'e' ✓
Which verb conjugations are correct?

Ich lerne, du lernst, er/sie lernt, wir lernen, ihr lernt, Sie/sie lernen. ✓

Ich sitze, du sitzt, er/sie sitzt, wir sitzen, ihr sitzt, Sie/sie sitzen. ✓

Ich finde, du findst, er/sie findt, wir finden, ihr findt, Sie/sie finden.

Ich bade, du badest, er/sie badet, wir baden, ihr badet, Sie/sie baden. ✓
Order the words as needed: German vowels are __________ before a double consonant and __________ before a single consonant. A 'h' after a vowel __________ the vowel. __________ vowels count as long.

1

⇔

short

2

⇔

long

3

⇔

lengthens

4

⇔

double

Exit quiz

Match the German words below to the correct English meanings.

der Ausdruck

⇔

term, expression ✓

wiederholen

⇔

to repeat, repeating ✓

die Wand

⇔

wall ✓

fremd

⇔

foreign, strange ✓

die Aufgabe

⇔

task, job ✓

merken

⇔

to notice, noticing ✓
Which of these words are pronounced with a long [a] or [ä]?

Wand

sagen ✓

Mahlzeit ✓

Abend ✓

Blatt
Match the words below to the correct plural rule.

Häuser

⇔

plural rule 4 ✓

Hobbys

⇔

plural rule 5 ✓

Dolmetscherinnen

⇔

plural rule 6 ✓
Put the words below in the correct order to complete the following sentence: 'Plötzlich' has a __________, but 'hören' has a __________. 'Üben' has a __________, but 'er übt' has a __________.

1

⇔

short [ö]

2

⇔

long [ö]

3

⇔

long [ü]

4

⇔

short [ü]
Which of these plurals are correct?

die Kinds

die Lehrerinnen ✓

die Antworter

die Bilder ✓
Distinguishing between long and short vowels is important because ...

it helps with accurate pronunciation. ✓

it helps with accurate transcription. ✓

it makes your German sound more authentic. ✓

it guarantees faultless spelling.

Worksheet

Loading worksheet ...

Presentation

Loading presentation ...

Video

Lesson Details

Key learning points

Some masculine and neuter nouns add '-er' with an umlaut, where possible, to form the plural.
Nouns borrowed from other langauges usually add '-s' to form the plural.
Female person nouns add '-nen' to form the plural.
The German short [a] sounds like the 'a' in 'Blatt'. The short [ä] is as in the plural 'Blätter'.
The German short [u] sounds like the 'u' in 'Unterschied'; the long [u] is as in 'Uhr'.

Common misconception

All German nouns form their plural by adding 's'.

Plural rules in German are complex and need to be learnt. Pronunciation is also important, as umlauts [ä], [ö] and [ü] can change meaning; for example, Vater, Väter. Accurate pronounciation can help with vocabulary, reading aloud and transcription.

Keywords

Plural rule 4 - add ‘-er’ to some masculine and neuter nouns, with an umlaut where possible; for example, 'Blätter'.
Plural rule 5 - add -s to nouns borrowed from other languages; for example, 'Interviews'.
Plural rule 6 - add -nen to all female person nouns; for example, 'Lehrerinnen'.