Plural Nouns
ಬಹುವಚನ
German pluralizes nouns in several unpredictable ways — adding -e, -er, -(e)n, -s, or nothing at all, sometimes with an umlaut added — unlike Kannada, where nearly every noun takes the same simple -ಗಳು suffix.
Grammar Comparison
ವ್ಯಾಕರಣ ಹೋಲಿಕೆ
One suffix vs five patterns
der Tisch → die Tische; das Kind → die Kinder; die Frau → die Frauen; das Auto → die Autos
ಮೇಜು → ಮೇಜುಗಳು; ಕಾರು → ಕಾರುಗಳು; ಪುಸ್ತಕ → ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳು (almost always -ಗಳು)
Kannada pluralizes nearly every noun by adding -ಗಳು — one dominant rule, with only a small closed set of human nouns switching to -ಅರು or -ಅಕ್ಕಳು (ಮನುಷ್ಯ→ಮನುಷ್ಯರು, ಮಗು→ಮಕ್ಕಳು). German has at least five different plural patterns (-e, -er, -(e)n, -s, or no change, sometimes combined with an umlaut on the vowel), and which pattern a given noun takes isn't predictable from its singular form. There's no shortcut: like the article, the plural form has to be memorized alongside each new noun.
The article simplifies in the plural
der Mann → die Männer; die Frau → die Frauen; das Kind → die Kinder (all become die)
ಬಹುವಚನದಲ್ಲಿ der/die/das ಮಾದರಿಯ ಲಿಂಗ ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸ ಇಲ್ಲದೆಯೇ ಒಂದೇ ವಿಧಾನ
Good news hiding in the complexity: no matter whether a singular noun was der, die, or das, its plural article is always die. This is one place German simplifies rather than complicates — once you know a word is plural, the article stops being a gender puzzle, similar to how Kannada's plural suffix cares only about human vs. non-human, never about der/die/das-style gender.
Vocabulary
ಪದಗಳು
- Kannada
- ಮೇಜು → ಮೇಜುಗಳುmeju → mejugalu
- English
- table → tables
- Kannada
- ಮಗು → ಮಕ್ಕಳುmagu → makkalu
- English
- child → children
- Kannada
- ಹೆಂಗಸು → ಹೆಂಗಸರುhengasu → hengasaru
- English
- woman → women
- Kannada
- ಕಾರು → ಕಾರುಗಳುkaaru → kaarugalu
- English
- car → cars
- Kannada
- ಮನುಷ್ಯ → ಮನುಷ್ಯರುmanushya → manushyaru
- English
- man → men
- Kannada
- ಪುಸ್ತಕ → ಪುಸ್ತಕಗಳುpustaka → pustakagalu
- English
- book → books
- Kannada
- ನಗರ → ನಗರಗಳುnagara → nagaragalu
- English
- city → cities