Declension of German nouns duo. Declension of German nouns

Declension is the change of parts of speech by cases and numbers. In German, nouns, articles, pronouns, and adjectives are declined according to cases (if they appear before the noun).

Important!

Master the topic " Declension"Knowledge will help cases in German. Unlike the Russian language, in German there are only four cases: Nominative (Nominativ), Genitive (Genetiv), Dative (Dativ), Accusative (Akkusativ).

Nominative	Wer? (who) Was? (What)
	Wessen? (whose)
	Wem? (to whom) Wo? (where) Wann? (when) Wie? (How)
Akkusativ	Wen? (who) Was? (what) Wohin? (Where)

Declension of adjectives in German

The method of declension of adjectives is closely related to the article. The presence or absence of an article before the adjective, as well as its type (definite or indefinite), determines what type of inflection the adjective will take - strong, weak or mixed.

Declension of adjectives
• Strong declination
• Weak declination
• Mixed declension

Gender, number, case are shown in a phrase only once (or with an accompanying word - article, numeral, or adjective)!

As can be seen from the table, with a strong declension, the adjective receives the gender/case ending of the definite article. Exception: Genetiv singular masculine and neuter. In this form the adjective ends in -en.

Weak declension of adjectives

In Nominativ units. h. (all genders) and Akkusativ singular. (except m.r.) the adjective receives an ending -e, in all other cases singular and plural - en.

	Der gut e	Das gut e	Die gut e	Die gut en
	Des gut en	Des gut en	Der gut en	Der gut en
	Dem gut en	Dem gut en	Der gut en	Den gut en
	Den gut en	Das gut e	Die gut e	Die gut en
	Vater good father	Kind good child	Mutter good mom	Eltern good parents

Mixed declension of adjectives

A sign of mixed declension of adjectives can be not only the indefinite article ein/eine, but also possessive pronouns ( mein, dein etc.), as well as a negative pronoun kein/ keine. If gender, number and case can be determined from the accompanying word (article, pronoun), the adjective is declined according to the weak type. If number, gender and case cannot be determined, use the strong one.

Ein guter Vater (good father, Im.p.)
By the article ein (can be either in the m.r. or in the w.r.n.) it is impossible to understand what gender the noun Vater belongs to. Therefore, the generic ending -er receives in this case the adjective guter. Strong declination.

Meinen guten Vater (my good father, V. p.)
Using the possessive pronoun meinen, you can determine the gender, number and case of the noun Vater. In this case, the adjective guten ends in -en and is inflected weakly.

We looked at the declensions of adjectives in German. The specifics of the declension of German nouns are presented in the table:

Declension of nouns in German

Gen. / kind.p.	-s des Vater s	-s des Kind es
Dat./dat.p.				-n den Bucher n
Akk. /vin.p.

In the genitive case, masculine and neuter, an ending is added to the noun -s, in the dative plural the ending is added -n. In other cases, the noun remains unchanged. The exception is weak nouns.

Declension of weak nouns

Masculine nouns that receive the plural ending - (e)n. The same ending is characteristic of all singular cases, except the nominative. These nouns include:

1. Words starting with -e (der Junge - boy);
2. Words with Latin or Greek suffixes denoting the type of activity (der Student - student);
3. Some inanimate nouns of foreign origin (der Automat - machine gun);
4. A few German words that require memorization (der Mensch - man, der Nachbar - neighbor, etc.)

	Sg. / unit	Pl. / plural
No. / Name	Der Student (student)	Die Student en
Gen. / R.p.	Des Student en	Der Student en
Dat. / D.p.	Dem Student en	Den Student en
Akk. / V.p.	Den Student en	Die Student en

Adjectives in German are declined if and only if they come before a noun:

Krasn th table - rot er Tisch
red wow stolU - rot em Tisch

There are three types of adjective declension:

1. Strong declination.
2. Weak declination.
3. Mixed declension.

How can one understand which type of adjective is inclined in a particular case?

1. If an adjective comes before a noun without an accompanying word, then it is inflected according to the strong type.
2. If there is an accompanying word, but it ambiguously shows gender, number and case, then the adjective is declined according to the mixed type.
3. If there is an accompanying word and it clearly shows gender, number and case, then the adjective is declined according to the weak type.

Strong declination

IMPORTANT!
In the plural, the words: Viele (many), Einige (several), Wenige (few), Zweie, dreie usw (two, three, etc.) acquire a generic/case ending and do not affect the ending of the adjective ( both parts of speech end with the definite article):

Viel e gut e Eltern (Nom.) - many good parents
Viel e gut e Eltern (Akk.) - many good parents
Wenig en gut en Eltern (Dat.) - to few good parents
Einig er gut er Eltern (Gen.) - some good parents

Weak declension of adjectives

IMPORTANT!

1. In the plural, after the words alle (all), sämtliche (meaning alle) and beide (both) in all cases, adjectives have a neutral ending<-en>, while alle and beide also receive a case plural ending (the ending of the definite article).

Alle mein en Freunde (Nom.)
Alle dein en Freunde (Akk.)
All en dein en Freunde (Dat.)
All er sein en Freunden (Gen.)

2. The definite article, demonstrative pronoun and interrogative pronoun are mutually exclusive parts of speech and are not used simultaneously with the same noun:

Der gute Vater - Diese gute Mutter (correct)
Der dieser gute Vater - Jede die gute Mutter ( Not Right)

3. Different parts of speech can act as an accompanying word, but all of them clearly show the gender and number of the noun already in Nominativ.

NOTE!
In compound demonstrative pronouns (derselbe, derjenige...) the definite article is merged with the demonstrative word, which means both parts of the word are declined. In this case, the article part is declined as a definite article, and the adjective part as an adjective:

D er selb e gut e Film - the same good film
D ie selb en gut en Filme - the same good films

Mixed declension

IMPORTANT!
In the plural, the indefinite article EIN is not used.

Declension of homogeneous adjectives

Homogeneous adjectives standing in front of a noun are declined in the same way:

Ein klein es neu es Haus / Das klein e neu e Haus
Klein e neu e Hauser/Die klein en neu en Hauser

Declension of compound adjectives

When an adjective consists of several (it is a multi-root or compound word), the ending is placed only at the end of the word:

Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlich es Thema - strong declension
das mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlich e Thema - weak declension
ein mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlich es Thema - mixed declension

Declension of adjectives before substantivized adjectives

If in a sentence the adjective name describes a substantivized adjective (Der Deutsche, Die Kranke, Die Verwandten), then the ending of the definition is selected according to the general rule: either the adjective itself (definition) or the word accompanying it must determine the gender, number and case of the noun. Gender, number and case are shown once in a phrase. In this case, the substantivized adjective receives neutral endings<-е>or<-еn>:

Der Kranke - sick
Der arm e Krank e- poor patient
Ein e arm e Krank e- (some) poor patient
ein es arm en Krank en(Genitiv, “Whose?”) - one poor patient (m.r.)
ein er arm en Krank en(Genitiv, “Whose?”) - one poor patient (f.)

Exception! Singular Dativ. If the gender shows an adjective (that is, we have a strong declension), then the substantivized form will have a neutral ending:

A noun is a variable part of speech. It is declined, that is, it changes according to cases. There are four cases in German:
• Nominativ - answers the question wer? was? - Who? What?
• Genitiv - answers the question wessen? - whose, whose? whose, whose? whom? what?
• Dativ - answers the question wem? - to whom?
• Akkusativ - answers the question wen? was? - whom? What?

German nouns, unlike Russian ones, most often do not have case endings. The case of a German noun is indicated by the case form of the article.

Declension of the article in German

Definite article					Indefinite article
Number	Case	Husband. R.	Wed. R.	Women R.	Husband. R.	Wed. R.	Women R.
Unit h.	Nominative	der	das	die	ein		eine
	Genitiv	des		der	eines		einer
	Dativ	dem		der	einem		einer
	Akkusativ	den	das	die	einen	ein	eine
Plural h.	Nominative	die			Absent
	Genitiv	der
	Dativ	den
	Akkusativ	die

In the singular, depending on the case endings of nouns, three types of noun declension are distinguished:
• strong declination,
• weak declination,
• Declension of feminine nouns.

Strong declension of nouns in German

The strong declension includes most masculine nouns, as well as all neuter nouns.

Nominative	der (ein) Lehrer	der Tisch	das (ein) Mittel	das Buch
Genitiv	des (eines) Lehrers	des Tisches	des (eines) Mittels	des Buches
Dativ	dem (einem) Lehrer	dem Tisch	dem (einem) Mittel	dem Buch
Akkusativ	den (einen) Lehrer	den Tisch	das (ein) Mittel	das Buch

From the table above it is clear that a strong declination is characterized by the end -(e)s in Genitiv. Moreover, nouns ending in -s, -ß, -sch, -z, -tz, get the ending -es in Genitiv. Nouns ending in -е, -er, -el, -en, -chen, -lein, -ling, -ig, -ich, as well as most polysyllabic endings in Genitiv -s.

Weak declension of nouns in German

The weak declension includes a relatively small group of masculine nouns denoting animate objects, namely:
• nouns ending in -e:
  der Junge (boy), der Russe (Russian), der Löwe (lion), der Hase (hare);
• nouns der Mensch (man), der Held (hero), der Bauer* (peasant), der Graf (count), der Nachbar* (neighbor), der Herr (lord), der Hirt (shepherd), der Ochs (ox) , der Bär (bear), der Narr (fool);
• foreign words with suffixes -ist, -ent, -ant, -at, -soph, -nom, -graph, -log(e):
  der Komponist, der Assistent, der Praktikant, der Kandidat, der Diplomat, der Philosopher,
  der Soldat, der Agronom, der Photograph, der Philolog(e).

Nouns of weak declension in all cases, except Nominativ singular, take a case ending -(e)n.

Nominative	der (ein) Junge	der (ein) Mensch
Genitiv	des (eines) Jungen	des (eines) Menschen
Dativ	dem (einem) Jungen	dem (einem) Menschen
Akkusativ	den (einen) Jungen	den (einen) Menschen

Nouns ending in -e, as well as der Herr, der Bauer, der Nachbar receive the ending -n, the rest are the end -en.

Declension of feminine nouns in German

Feminine nouns do not take any singular case endings. The case is shown by the form of the article.

Nominative	die (eine) Frau	die (eine) Hand	die (eine) Tafel
Genitiv	der (einer) Frau	der (einer) Hand	der (einer) Tafel
Dativ	der (einer) Frau	der (einer) Hand	der (einer) Tafel
Akkusativ	die (eine) Frau	die (eine) Hand	die (eine) Tafel

Special cases of noun declension in German

There is a small group of masculine nouns, forming a transitional type from weak to strong declension. Words of this group change in all cases according to the weak declension, and in Genitiv they take the ending -(e)ns.

The declension type of a noun is easy to determine using a dictionary.

For example: Stuhl m-(e)s, ¨-е; m determines the gender of the noun - masculine. Ending -(e)s indicates the Genitiv singular form of this noun - des Stuhl (e)s, therefore, this noun belongs to the strong declension.

Another example: Student m-en, -en. Here the first -en indicates that the Genitiv form of this noun is Studenten, therefore this noun belongs to the weak declension.

Special cases of declension of nouns are shown similarly in the dictionary.

Declension of German nouns in the plural

In the plural, all nouns are declined the same way. They all take a case ending -n in the dative case, with the exception of those receiving the plural suffix -(e)n or -s.

Declension of proper names in German

1. Proper names take endings -s in Genitiv singular:
   Goethe s Gedichte (Goethe's poems); Anna s Vater (Anna's father).
2. Names of persons ending in -s, -x and –z, accept the ending –ens:
   Sachsens Werke (works by Sachs).
   Often in these words the ending is completely omitted and replaced with an apostrophe:
   Claus' Auto (Claus's car).

   Proper names denoting geographical names and ending in -s, -x, -z, do not receive any ending:
   der Gipfel des Elbrus (peak of Elbrus).

3. Female names on -ie have a singular ending in Genitiv -s or -ns:
   Marie ns(Marie s) Freund (Maria's friend).
4. The genitive case can be replaced by a construction with a preposition von:
   Peter s Buch = das Buch von Peter,
   die Straßen München s= die Straßen von München (streets of Munich).
5. A proper name is usually not declined if it is preceded by an article with a definition:

1. If a proper name is preceded by a common noun expressing title, rank, position, etc., then two cases are possible:

• When there is an article, only the common noun is declined:

• Without an article, only the proper noun is declined, and the common noun remains unchanged:
  die Regierungszeit König Ludwigs
  die Vorlesung Professor Müllers.

1. If the first and last names are indicated, then only the last name is declined:
   die Werke Patrick Süskinds (works by Patrick Süskind).

* This noun also changes in strong declension.

Today we will look at another “similarity” between the Russian and German languages ​​- declination. We remember that in Russian there are three types of declension: 1st, 2nd and 3rd. There are also three types of declension in German: strong declination(die starke Deklination), weak declination(die schwache Deklination) and feminine declension(die weibliche Deklination).

TO strong type declinations include most nouns are masculine And all neuter nouns, other than a noun das Herz - heart. The main sign of a strong declination is the ending –(e)s in the genitive case:

Nominativeder Vater das Fenster;

Genetivdes Vaters des Fensters;

Dativdem Vater dem Fenster;

Akkusativden Vater das Fenster.

Ending –s in the genitive case it is typical for polysyllabic nouns:

Nominative Genetiv

der Garten - garden des Gartens - garden

das Messer - knife des Messers - knife

Ending –es acquire monosyllabic nouns:

Nominative Genetiv

der Hund - dog des Hundes - dogs

das Buch - book des Buches - books

and nouns ending in -s, -ß, -x, -z, -tz:

Nominative Genetiv

das Glas - glass des Glases - glass

der Fluß - river des Flußes - rivers

der Suffix - suffix des Suffixes - suffix

der Schmerz - pain des Schmerzes - pain

das Gesetz - law des Gesetzes - law

TO weak declension apply only animate nouns, masculine gender. The main sign of a weak declination is the ending –(e)n in all indirect cases:

A) nouns with endings –e

der Knabe-boy, der Affe- monkey, der Neffe- nephew, der Hase- hare;

b) monosyllabic nouns

der Bär- bear, der Furst- prince, der Herr- sir, der Ochs- bull, der Spatz- sparrow, der Zar - tsar;

V) nouns of foreign origin with drums suffixes –ant, -at, -ent, -et, -graph(-graf), -ist, -it, -ot

der Aspirsnt-graduate student, der Diplomant-diplomat, der Student- student, der Atlet– athlete, der Fotograf- photographer, der Pianist– pianist, der Favorit– favorite, der Patriot– patriot.

Feminine declension speaks for itself: everyone belongs to this type of declension feminine nouns. The main feature of this type of declension is lack of ending in all cases:

Nominativedie Tür die Frau die Schulbank;

Genetiv

Dativder Tür der Frau der Schulbank;

Akkusativdie Tür die Frau die Schulbank.

And the last thing - mixed type of declension. This type of declension includes eight masculine nouns And singular neuter noun das Herz. This type of declination is characterized by the ending –es in the genitive case (strong declension) and –en in the dative and accusative cases (weak declension):

der Name- Name der Buchstabe– letter

der Same– seed der Friede- world

der Wille– will der Funke– spark

der Gedanke- thought der Fels– rock

das Herz– hearts

Nominativeder Name das Herz

Genetivdes Namens des Herzens

Dativdem Namen dem Herzen

Akkusativden Namen das Herz

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German, like any other language, cannot do without such a part of speech as a noun (noun). When constructing sentences, nouns are, of course, declined. Declension of nouns in German is not some kind of wisdom, but you need to work with it.
Skl. noun in German it occurs according to three main examples: feminine declension, strong cl. and weak inflection. There is also a special group of nouns that do not belong to any of the listed examples and are inflected according to their own pattern.
According to the female school all beings bow down. female. A sign of this type of cl. is the absence of endings (final) in all cases: N. die Frau (woman) die Tasche (bag)
G. der Frau (women) der Tasche (bags)
D. der Frau (woman) der Tasche (bag)
A. die Frau (woman) die Tasche (bag)

By strong slope most nouns are inclined. masculine and all nouns. neuter (exception - das Herz). A sign of this type of cl. is final –(e)s in Genetiv. The full form of the ending –es is taken by noun. on –s (-nis → -nisses), -ß, -x, -sch, -z, as well as many monosyllabic nouns: des Hauses - at home, des Tisches - table, des Freundes - friend, des Kampfes - struggle.

N. der Mann (man) das Buch (book) der Lehrer (teacher)
G. des Mannes (men) des Buches (books) des Lehrers (teachers)
D. dem Mann (man) dem Buch (book) dem Lehrer (teacher)
A. den Mann (man) den Buch (book) den Lehrer (teacher)

Monosyllabic nouns may have an ending in the dative case. -e, most often in stable phrases: zu Hause (at home), nach Hause (home), auf dem Lande (in the village).

According to the weak type, only nouns are inclined. masculine, which denote primarily creatures. A sign of a weak type of skl. is final –(e)n in all cases except the nominative:

N. der Junge (guy) der Student (student) der Planet (planet)
G. des Jungen (guy) des Studenten (student) des Planeten (planets)
D. dem Jungen (guy) dem Studenten (student) dem Planeten (planet)
A. den Jungen (guy) den Studenten (student) den Planeten (planet)

The weak type also tends to:
- nouns that end in –e: Junge (guy), Löwe (lion), Biologe (biologist);
- monosyllabic nouns that end with a consonant: Mensch (man), Hirt (shepherd), Herr (lord), Spatz (sparrow);

- noun with suffixes –ent, -ant, -and, -ist, -et, -at, -graf, -log, -nom, -soph, -arch, -it, -ot, -an: Präsident - president, Aspirant - graduate student, Doktorand - doctoral student, Optimist - optimist, Poet - sings, Soldat - soldier, Fotograf - photographer, Philologe - philosopher, Astronom - astronomer, Philosoph - philosopher, Monarch - monarch, Pilot - pilot, Veteran - veteran, also: Bauer - peasant, Nachbar - neighbor, Chirurg - surgeon, Katholik - Catholic.

- some nouns with the above suffixes that denote inanimate objects: Konsonant - consonant, Diamant - diamond, Automat - machine gun, Planet - planet, Komet - comet, Paragraf - paragraph, Foliant - folio, Obelisk - obelisk, Telegraf - telegraph, Satellit - satellite.

The following nouns belong to a special group: der Name - name, der Friede - calm, der Buchtstabe - letter, der Gedanke - thought, der Glaube - faith, der Haufe - heap, der Wille - will, der Same - embryo, der Schade - annoyance, der Funke - spark, der Fels - rock, und das Herz - heart. A sign of this type of cl. is final –ns in Genetiv and –n in other indirect cases. (The noun das Herz ends in –ens in the genitive case and –en in the dative case.)

N. der Name - name das Herz - heart
G. des Namens - named after des Herzens - hearts
D. dem Namen - name dem Herzen - heart
A. den Namen - name den Herzen - heart.