Declension of nouns
(Declining nouns in German grammar)
What are nouns?
Nouns (in German: Nomen or Substantive) are words that denote living beings (persons, animals), things, and facts. In the German language, they are declined (inflected), which means they alter their form according to the four grammatical cases. Such changes mainly include the transformation of vowels; only occasionally do they receive additional endings. Despite that, the declension is most evident in the preceding determiner. Compare the subsequent illustration with examples that give you an overview of the varied forms:
Declension of nouns (substantives) in German
The following tables show the declensional endings of German nouns. To make the adaptions clearer, articles precede them:
Singular
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| Nominative (who/what?) | der Bruder (brother) | die Leuchte (lamp) | das Haus (house) |
| Genitive (whose?) | des Bruders | der Leuchte | des Hauses |
| Dative (whom?) | dem Bruder | der Leuchte | dem Haus(e) |
| Accusative (who/what?) | den Bruder | die Leuchte | das Haus |
Plural
| Case | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| Nominative (who/what?) | die Brüder (brothers) | die Leuchten (lamps) | die Häuser (houses) |
| Genitive (whose?) | der Brüder | der Leuchten | der Häuser |
| Dative (whom?) | den Brüdern | den Leuchten | den Häusern |
| Accusative (who/what?) | die Brüder | die Leuchten | die Häuser |
Further explanations referring to the ‘Declension of nouns’
The following explanations are related to the topic ‘Declension of nouns/substantives in German grammar’ and could also be helpful:
- Declension in grammar
- Grammatical categories of nouns
- The number of nouns
- Overview of noun topics