Genau
Topic test · A1

Noun plurals test

13questions
8minutes
60%pass mark
Start the test Read the topic first

One question at a time, the clock runs. Answers stay closed like a real exam: you see every correct answer with its explanation at the end. Score 60% to finish the topic.

Topic test

13 questions, easy to hard

Pick an option and press «Next». You can go back and change it. Anything left blank counts as wrong.

das Buch → plural?

die Bücher. It is the -er type, and because the stem has a u, the umlaut comes too.

die Lampe → plural?

die Lampen. Words that take die almost always add -(e)n — and the -(e)n type has no umlaut.

das Mädchen → plural?

die Mädchen. -chen is a diminutive ending; the word does not change at all in the plural, only the article becomes die.

Ich fahre mit Kindern. (die Kinder)

I’m going with the children.

den Kindern. mit takes the dative; in the dative plural the article becomes den and the word gets an -n.

In which word can there be NO umlaut?

das Kind. An umlaut can only appear on a · o · u · au in the stem. i has no umlaut: die Kinder.

das Auto → dative plural?

den Autos. Plurals that end in -s get no -n in the dative.

der Apfel → plural?

Many masculine nouns take only an umlaut in the plural: der Apfel → die Äpfel · der Vater → die Väter.

What is the article of a plural noun, always?

The nominative plural has just one article: die. der Tisch → die Tische · das Buch → die Bücher.

die Frau → plural?

The vast majority of feminine nouns take -(e)n: die Frauen · die Lampen · die Zeitungen.

Which one takes -s in the plural?

The -s plural belongs to foreign words and abbreviations: Autos · Handys · Fotos.

«Ich spiele mit den Kinder.» is correct.

False. The preposition mit takes the dative. In the dative plural, one more -n is added to the end of the word (if it does not already end in -n or -s): mit den Kindern.

Lampen sind sehr hell.

The lamps are very bright.

Die. In the plural, whatever the word’s gender, the nominative article is always die.

Build the sentence: The cars are new.

Tap the pieces to build the sentence

Foreign words and words ending in a vowel take -s in the plural: das Auto → die Autos.
Quick rules

The rules in three lines

The full topic lives on its own page. This is only the core you need for the test.

  1. Five patterns, one article

    -e · -er · -(e)n · -s · no change — whichever it is, the nominative plural article is die.

    die Bücher · die Lampen · die Autos

  2. Feminine nouns mostly take -(e)n

    die Frau → Frauen · die Lampe → Lampen. The safest guess.

    die Zeitungen

  3. Umlaut only if there is an a·o·u

    If the stem has no a, o or u, there is no umlaut either: das Kind → die Kinder (i never takes an umlaut).

    der Apfel → die Äpfel

  4. Dative plural adds -n

    mit den Kindern · seit zwei Jahren. If the plural already ends in -s or -n, nothing is added: den Autos.

    mit den Kindern

Traps

Commonly mixed up

Where a direct translation breaks. The hard questions come from here.

  • die Apfels

    die Äpfel

    The -s plural belongs to foreign words; most native masculine nouns take an umlaut.

  • der Bücher (in the plural)

    die Bücher

    The nominative plural article is always die.

  • mit den Kinder

    mit den Kindern

    The dative plural adds -n to the noun.

  • die Mädchens

    die Mädchen

    Words ending in -chen do not change in the plural.