Guide to German Plural Nouns with -er Endings

There are several different ways to make a noun plural in German. One way is to add -er at the end of the noun and change the article to die.

Nouns that go plural with –er are mostly masculine or neuter when singular. There may also be some umlaut changes, which is something you'll just have to memorize. 

For example:

das Kind (singular), die Kinder (plural)

Die Mutter liebt ihr Kind. (The mother loves her child.)

Die Mutter liebt ihre Kinder. (The mother loves her children.)  

Here's another example: 

das Buch (the book),  die Bücher (the books)

Er liest das Buch. (He reads the book.) 

Er liest die Bücher. (He reads the books.)

The -ern Ending in German

The only time a different plural ending is added is during the dative. In this case, the noun always adds an -ern ending. See the chart below for a summary of this plural group in all cases.

Plural Nouns With –er Endings