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Not really. There are 7 different forms or pluralisation, you just need to remember which one is pluralised in which fashion. I have a list of them in my German book if anyone would like to me transpose them.

4: Die Pluralformen


In English, a plural is (usually) formed by simply adding an -s to the end of a noun. In German however, there are effectivly 10 different pluralisation patterns. Unfortunately, there is little in the way of rules when it comes to pluralising nouns, so it is best that nouns, when learnt, are also learnt with their plural form.

Gender is an important issue in German, but when a noun is pluralised, we can relax, because all German plurals are feminine (die).

Like in English, plurals may be used with the definite article (the/die), but not the indefinite article (a or an/eine).

A flowers? Doesn't sound right, does it? It's the same for German, so try to remember that.

The left-hand column is the plural form. The central column is the singular form, and the right-hand column is the English translation (in brackets, transliterations).

-e
die Telefone | das Telefon | -the telephone
die Berufe | der Beruf | -the profession/job/career
die Fotoapparate | der Fotoapparat | -the camera (die Kamera is also used)
die Handschuhe | die Handschuh | -the glove (hand-sock)
die Tishe | der Tisch | -the bag
die Tage | der Tag | -the day
die Probleme | das Problem | -the problem
die Flugzeuge | das Flugzeug | -the airplane (flight-stuff)
die Jahre | das Jahr | -the year

-"e
die Stühle | der Stuhl | -the chair
die Hüte | der Hut | -the hat
die Stöcke | der Stock | -the cane/plug
die Vorhänge | der Vorhang | -the blinds (infront-hanger)
die Reisepässe | der Reisepass | -the passport (travel-pass)
die Rucksäcke | der Rucksack | -the back-pack (back-sack)
die Söhne | der Sohn | -the son

-n
die Lampen | die Lampe | -the lamp
die Reisetachen | die Reisetasche | -the traveling bag (travel-bag)
die Brillen | die Brille | -the glasses
die Mützen | die Mütze | -the cap
die Toiletten | die Toilette | -the toilet
die Duschen | die Dusche | -the shower
die Badewannen | die Badewanne | -the bath/bathtub (bath-tub)
die Glühbirnen | die Glühbirne | -the light-bulb (pear-burn)
die Bettdecken | die Bettdecke | -the bed covers/sheets (bed-deckings)
die Reisegruppen | die Reisegruppe | -the travelling group
die Namen | der Name | -the name
die Straßen | der Straße | -the street
die Sprachen | die Sprache | -the language
die Steckdosen | der Steckdose | -the electricity plug/socket (stick-box)
die Jalousien | die Jalousien | -the curtains (French origin)

-en
die Frauen | die Frau | -the women
die Studenten | der Student | -the student
die Lektionen | die Lektion | -the lesson
die Betten | das Bett | -the bed
die Herren | der Herr | -the Sir/Mister
die Zahlen | die Zahl | -the time
die Unterschriffen | die Unterschriff | -the signature

This next form actually has some regularity. It ony applies to nouns that have been feminised with an -in suffix.

-nen
die Studentinnen | die Studentin | -the female student
die Lehrerinnen | die Lehrerin | -the female teacher
die Ärztinnen | die Ärztin | -the female doctor
die Reiseleiterinnen | die Reiseleiterin | -the female travel guide (travel-leader)

- (no change)
die Kissen | das Kissen | -the cussion/pillow
die Koffer | der Koffer | -the suitcase
die Schlüssel | der Schlüssel | -the key
die Stecker | der Stecker | -the plug
die Sessel | der Sessel | -the arm-chair
die Spiegel | der Spiegel | -the mirror
die Zimmer | das Zimmer | -the room
die Fenster | das Fenster | -the window
die Möbel | die Möbel | -the furniture

-"
die Mäntel | der Mantel | -the coat
die Mütter | die Mutter | -the mother
die Väter | der Vater | -the father
die Töchter | die Tochter | -the daughter

-er
die Bilder | das Bild | -the picture
die Kinder | das Kind | -the child

-"er
die Männer | der Mann | -the man
die Länder | das Land | -the land/country
die Bäder | das Bad | -the bath
die Bücher | das Buch | -the book
die Handtücher | das Handtuch | -the towel (hand-cloth/rag)

This last group usually relates to words that have been directly borrowed from English, not related words. As can be seen, they do not follow the spelling change from -y to -ie when such a word is pluralised.

-s
die Radios | das Radio
die Hotels | das Hotel
die Hobbys | das Hobby

Holy crap, I spent hours lining up all the columns so they'd look all nice and pretty, AND IT DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING!

I hope it's not too cluttered for people.

Danke shoen.

It's almost the end of the month and we havn't even done verbs! I'll try to go over them.


Verbs.

Verb conjugation is usually very regular

To Live

I - live
you - live
he/she/it - lives
we - live
they - live

In German, it's more specific for each pro-noun, but it most cases is also regular.

Wohnen

ich - wohn-e
du - wohn-st
er/sie/es - wohn-t
wir - wohn-en
ihr - wohn-t
sie - wohn-en
Sie - wohn-en

This table is headed with the Infinitve form of the noun, similar to Englishes 'to live'. From this form, the other forms are derived. Ich always drops the n, du always drops the n, adds an -st. Er/sie/es just adds a -t. And so forth.

This version of 'to live' doesn't refer to the state of living, but rather a place of residence. For example.

I live in Australian.
Ich wohne in Australien.

Arbeiten - To Work

ich - arbeit-e
du - arbeit-e-st
er/sie/es - arbeit-e-t
wir - arbeit-en
ihr - arbeit-e-t
sie - arbeit-en
Sie - arbeit-en

Verbs with the stem ending -t or -d need an additional -e in the du, er/sie/es and ihr forms, for pronunciation purposes.

Heißen - To Be Called

ich - heiß-e
du - heiß-t
er/sie/es - heiß-t
wir - heiß-en
ihr - heiß-t
sie - heiß-en
Sie - heiß-en

Verbs ending in the stem -s, -ß, -x or -z do not take an -st but only -t ending for the es/sie/es form.

Segeln - To Sail

ich - segl-e
du - segel-st
er/sie/es - segel-t
wir - segel-n
ihr - segel-t
sie - segel-n
Sie - segel-n

Verbs ending in -eln drop an -e in the ich form.

The verbs 'to be' and 'to have' are irregular.

Sein - To Be

ich - bin
du - bist
er/sie/es - ist
wir - sind
ihr - seid
sie - sind
Sie - sind

Haben - To Have

ich - habe
du - hast
er/sie/es - hat
wir - haben
ihr - habt
sie - haben
Sie - haben

Some verbs have a vowel change. This only affects the du and er/sie/es form, while the remaining forms are regular.

Sprechen - To Speak

ich - sprech-e
du - sprich-st
er/sie/es - sprich-t
wir - sprechen
ihr - sprech-t
sie - sprechen
Sie - sprechen

Lesen - To Read

ich - les-e
du - lies-t
er/sie/es - lies-t
wir - lesen
ihr - les-t
sie - lesen
Sie - lesen

Very basic sentance structure is the same as very basic English sentance structure, seeing as they're both West-Germanic languages, so that's easy for all English natives!

It goes Subject, Verb, Object (SVO).

I(S) speak(V) German(O).

Ich(S) spreche(V) Deutsch(O).

(Private note, Gaia is NOT good for word formating. >_<)


VSO Form is also acceptable in German. This is know as inversion, and is part of forming a question. English has evolved to a stage were we almost have a word (do) which we use to denote a question.

Sprichts du Deutsch?

Speak you German?/Do you speak German?

Other Question Words.

Was - What
Wo - Where
Wer - Who
Wie - How
Woher - Where From

More later? That so took forever.

This is also true of verbs ending in -ern:

feuern - to fire

ich - feur-e
du - feuer-st
er/sie/es - feuer-t
wir - feuer-n
ihr - feuer-t
sie - feuer-n
Sie - feuer-n

füttern - to feed

ich - füttr-e
du - fütter-st
er/sie/es - fütter-t
wir - fütter-n
ihr - fütter-t
sie - fütter-n
Sie - fütter-n

[Keep in mind, though, that saying segele in place of segle and feuere in place of feure is still entirely acceptable and correct.]



And also, there are other inflected forms to some of those.

Uses for "where"

wo - where [Used in terms of current location: Wo bist du? Where are you?]
woher - (from) where [Used in terms of where something comes from: Woher kommt die Frau? Where does that woman come from?]
wohin - (to) where [Used in terms of where something is headed: Wohin fährst du nächsten Donnerstag? Where are you going next Thursday?]

Uses for "who"

wer - who [Used as the performer of the action: Wer hat diese Lamp gebrochen? Who has broken this lamp?]
wen - whom [Used as the object the action is performed on in the accusative case: Wen stanzte Jürgen? Whom did Jurgen punch?]
wem - (to/from) whom [Used as the object the action is performed on in the dative case: Wem soll ich dieses Buch geben? To whom should I give this book?]

More interrogatives

wieviel - how much/many [Wieviel kostet dieses Hemd? How much does this shirt cost?]

wenn/wann - when [Wann beginnt das Programm? When does the program begin?] (I use 'wann,' since 'wenn' is sometimes used in the context of 'if.')

warum - why [Warum bist du nicht gut gewesen? Why have you been unwell?]

wessen - whose [Wessen Schuhe liegen auf dem Boden? Whose shoes are lying on the floor?]

My copy of 501 German Verbs has these conjugations for müssen:

ich - muß
du - mußt
er/sie/es - muß
wir - müssen
ihr - müßt
sie/Sie - müssen

Was there some big spelling change i wasn't told about? confused

Looking around online, it seems as though both are still widely in use? Curse languages that change this often! scream There should be rock solid spelling that never changes, that way people wouldn't be producing obsolete books (which i think mine is since these conjugations are probably technicaly wrong!)