Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

### Weak Masculine Nouns (N-Declension)

Most German nouns do not change their spelling when they become the object of a sentence. However, a special group of masculine nouns—often called "weak" nouns—must add an **-n** or **-en** to the end of the word in every case except the nominative (the subject). This pattern is known as N-Declension.

These nouns typically describe people, professions, titles, or nationalities.

### Adding an Ending: "der Herr"

A very common word in this group is *der Herr* (the gentleman / Mr.). In the accusative (direct object) and dative (indirect object) cases, it adds an **-n**.

{{item:871013}}

{{item:871014}}

### Professions and Titles (-en)

Many masculine nouns describing people that end in foreign suffixes like **-ent**, **-ant**, **-ist**, or **-graf** add **-en**. Common examples include *der Student*, *der Polizist*, and *der Fotograf*.

{{item:871016}}

{{item:871017}}

{{item:871019}}

{{item:871020}}

### Nouns Ending in "-e" (-n)

Masculine nouns that end in **-e** simply add an **-n** in the accusative and dative cases. This includes words like *der Kunde* (the customer), *der Franzose* (the Frenchman), and *der Neffe* (the nephew).

{{item:871022}}

{{item:871023}}

This rule applies consistently to nationalities and people described with an **-e** ending:

{{item:871028}}

{{item:871034}}

Weak masculine nouns (-n, -en)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
the gentleman / Mr.	der Herr
I know the gentleman.	Ich kenne den Herrn.
We are speaking with the gentleman.	Wir sprechen mit dem Herrn.
the university student	der Student
The teacher is helping the student.	Der Lehrer hilft dem Studenten.
Are you waiting for the student?	Wartest du auf den Studenten?
the police officer	der Polizist
Did you ask the police officer?	Hast du den Polizisten gefragt?
The car belongs to the police officer.	Das Auto gehört dem Polizisten.
the customer	der Kunde
The boss is calling the customer.	Der Chef ruft den Kunden an.
I answered the customer.	Ich habe dem Kunden geantwortet.
the president	der Präsident
Have you seen the president?	Haben Sie den Präsidenten gesehen?
The people do not believe the president.	Die Leute glauben dem Präsidenten nicht.
the Frenchman	der Franzose
I am inviting the Frenchman.	Ich lade den Franzosen ein.
He is drinking the wine with the Frenchman.	Er trinkt den Wein mit dem Franzosen.
the expert	der Experte
We need an expert.	Wir brauchen einen Experten.
The gift is from the expert.	Das Geschenk ist vom Experten.
the nephew	der Neffe
I am thinking about my nephew.	Ich denke an meinen Neffen.
She is giving the nephew a book as a gift.	Sie schenkt dem Neffen ein Buch.
the assistant	der Assistent
I thank the assistant for the help.	Ich danke dem Assistenten für die Hilfe.
Did you find the assistant?	Haben Sie den Assistenten gefunden?
the photographer	der Fotograf
Anna is looking for the photographer.	Anna sucht den Fotografen.
The photo is from the photographer.	Das Foto ist vom Fotografen.
the lady	die Dame
The lady asks very politely.	Die Dame fragt sehr höflich.
The gentleman and the lady are already old.	Der Herr und die Dame sind schon alt.

Contributors