FormNomen + -s (die Autos, die Hotels, die Kinos)
Meaning and usage
Some German nouns form their plural with -s. Most of them are loanwords, such as das Hotel and das Restaurant, or short words that end in -o, -i or -y: das Auto becomes die Autos, das Kino becomes die Kinos, das Taxi becomes die Taxis, das Handy becomes die Handys.
The -s plural is not the default for German nouns. Most native German nouns use -e, -(e)n, -er or no ending. English speakers often add -s to every noun, which gives forms like die Tischs or die Frauens. Use -s only for the nouns that take it.
Examples 5
In dieser Stadt gibt es viele Kinos.
There are many movie theaters in this city.
Wie viele Autos hat diese Firma gekauft?
How many cars has that company bought?
Es gibt in dieser Gegend keine Restaurants.
There aren't any restaurants around here.
Wir sehen viele Autos auf der Straße.
We see a lot of cars on the street.
Wir könnten uns über unsere Hobbys unterhalten.
We could talk about our hobbies.
Test yourself
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1 Sprachbausteine
In der Garage stehen zwei .
Show answer
Correct answer: Autos
das Auto ends in -o, so its plural is die Autos. After zwei the noun must be plural.
- Autor means author, and it is singular.
- Auto is the singular and cannot follow zwei.
- Autoren is the plural of der Autor, a writer, not a car.
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.