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German nouns and their groups of declension


 

German nouns: 1st group of declension

In this group, we will find most of the masculine and neuter German nouns.
Let’s try out the declension and take a look at the different endings in the four German cases.
We will show you the masculine noun “der Tisch” (en.: table) as an example.

Group 1 – example: der Tisch (en. table)
case singular plural
NOM der Tisch die Tische
GEN des Tisches der Tische
DAT dem Tisch den Tischen
ACC den Tisch die Tische

Exception:
The noun “das Herz” (en.: heart) is an exception – its declension follows the rules of the second group.
So, let’s move on and take a look at that second group:


2nd group of declension

This group collects all masculine nouns ending in -e.

Group 2 – example: der Gedanke (en. thought)
case singular plural
NOM der Gedanke die Gedanken
GEN des Gedankens der Gedanken
DAT dem Gedanken den Gedanken
ACC den Gedanken die Gedanken

 

3rd group of declension (feminine nouns):

Nouns belonging to that group do not change in their endings.
There is only one exception to that rule of thumb:
In the dative case, they take an -n with the plural form.

Group 3 – example: die Not (en. hardship)
case singular plural
NOM die Not die Nöte
GEN der Not der Nöte
DAT der Not den Nöten
ACC die Not die Nöte

 

4th group of declension

In the fourth group, we find masculine German nouns ending in:
-ant (Example. der Praktikant – apprentice)
-ent (Example. der Student – student)
-ist (Example. der Pianist – pianist)
-at
-orge
-ot (Example. der Pilot – pilot)
-graf (Example. der Fotograf – photographer)

Group 4 – example: der Student (en. student)
case singular plural
NOM der Student die Studenten
GEN des Studenten der Studenten
DAT dem Studenten den Studenten
ACC den Studenten die Studenten