Formdie + Pluralform des Nomens
Meaning and usage
In the nominative and the accusative plural, every noun takes die, whatever its gender in the singular: der Tag becomes die Tage, das Kind becomes die Kinder, and die Frau becomes die Frauen. In the dative plural the article is den (mit den Kindern), which comes later.
The plural noun itself has several possible endings, and you learn that ending together with the noun. The mistake learners make is to keep the singular article: they say der Kinder or das Kinder for the subject of a sentence. A plural subject always takes die.
Examples 5
Die Kinder sind von der Schule gekommen.
The children are home from school.
Die Eltern spielen ein Spiel mit ihren Kindern.
The parents are playing a game with their children.
Die Mädchen haben angefangen zu lachen.
The girls began to laugh.
Die Katzen haben Angst vor Wasser.
The cats are afraid of water.
Die Eier sind immer noch heiß.
The eggs are still hot.
Test yourself
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1 Sprachbausteine
Kinder spielen im Garten.
Show answer
Correct answer: Die
Kinder is plural, so it takes die. Der and das are singular articles, and den is not used for a plural subject.
- den is masculine accusative or dative plural, and the subject here is nominative.
- der in the nominative is masculine singular, and the subject here is plural.
- das is neuter singular, and Kinder is plural.
In this topic: Plurals
- die + Plural the plural article for every noun
- -e: Tage, Stühle Plural in -e, often with umlaut
- -(e)n: Frauen, Lampen Plural in -n or -en, no umlaut
- -er: Kinder, Bücher Plural in -er, often with umlaut
- -s: Autos, Hotels Plural in -s for many loanwords and vowel-final nouns
- Lehrer → Lehrer, Vater → Väter Same noun, sometimes with umlaut, in the plural
Example sentences from Tatoeba, used under CC BY 2.0 FR. See sources.