German plural noun questions

Question 1

1. Tell me about a rule for German plurals.

Answer 1

All nouns ending in -e, and most feminine nouns will add an -(e)n ending in the plural.

die Frau, die Frauen
die Ente, die Enten
der Junge, die Jungen

Question 2

2. Tell me about a rule for German plurals.

Answer 2

Most nouns ending in a full vowel will add an -s in the plural.

das Sofa, die Sofas
das Auto, die Autos
das Baby, die Babys
das Café, die Cafés

This does not apply to nouns ending in -e (which is not a full vowel).

Many of these words are of foreign origin. Some other foreign words will also get the -s plural:

der Chef (the boss), die Chefs
die Email, die Emails
der Job, die Jobs

Question 3

3. Tell me about a rule for German plurals.

Answer 3

There is no change for neuter or masculine nouns that
have any of these singular endings:

-chen, -lein, -el, or -er.
das Mädchen, die Mädchen
der Computer, die Computer
der Löffel (the spoon), die Löffel

Question 4

4. Tell me about a rule for German plurals.

Answer 4

Some words for close family members will have an umlaut change:

der Bruder (the brother), die Brüder

Question 5

5. Tell me about a rule for German plurals.

Answer 5

If words with these endings are feminine, the plural will end in -n:

die Schwester (the sister), die Schwestern
die Gabel (the fork), die Gabeln

Question 6

6. Tell me about a rule for German plurals.

Answer 6

Most German one-syllable nouns will add an -e in their plural form. There might be an umlaut change.

das Brot (the bread), die Brote
der Tisch (the table), die Tische
der Ball (the ball), die Bälle

Question 7

7. Tell me about a rule for German plurals.

Answer 7

Many other masculine or neuter nouns will need the -er ending, and there may be umlaut changes.

das Kind (the child), die Kinder
der Mann (the man), die Männer

Question 8

German job descriptions are usually Masculine;

der Koch (the male cook)
der Fahrer (the male driver)
der Lehrer (the male teacher)
der Arzt (the male physician)

How are the nouns changed to refer to female jobs?

Answer 8

To refer to a female, German adds -in:

die Köchin (the female cook)
die Fahrerin (the female driver)
die Lehrerin (the female teacher)
die Ärztin (the female physician)

As you can see, some of these get an umlaut change. The same umlaut change will happen in the plural.

The plural of the masculine forms usually refers to mixed, as well as all-male groups:

die Köche (the cooks)
die Fahrer (the drivers)
die Lehrer (the teachers)
die Ärzte (the physicians)

If you want to specify that you are talking about a group consisting of women, use the feminine plural forms. These will add -innen in the plural.
die Köchinnen
die Fahrerinnen
die Lehrerinnen
die Ärztinnen