Plural Nouns
பன்மை
German pluralizes nouns in several unpredictable ways — adding -e, -er, -(e)n, -s, or nothing at all, sometimes with an umlaut added — unlike Tamil, which pluralizes nearly every noun the same simple way.
Grammar Comparison
இலக்கண ஒப்பீடு
One suffix vs. five patterns
der Tisch → die Tische; das Kind → die Kinder; die Frau → die Frauen; das Auto → die Autos
மேசை → மேசைகள்; குழந்தை → குழந்தைகள்; பெண் → பெண்கள் (always -கள்)
Tamil pluralizes nearly every noun by adding -கள் — one rule, essentially no exceptions. 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)
பன்மையில் ஒரே பொதுவான -கள் விகுதி
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 Tamil's -கள் doesn't care about a noun's class either.
Vocabulary
சொற்கள்
| German | Pronunciation | Tamil | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| der Tisch → die Tische | dair tish / dee TISH-eh | மேசை → மேசைகள்mēsai → mēsaigaḷ | table → tables |
| das Kind → die Kinder | dahs kint / dee KIN-der | குழந்தை → குழந்தைகள்kuḻandhai → kuḻandhaigaḷ | child → children |
| die Frau → die Frauen | dee frow / dee FROW-en | பெண் → பெண்கள்peṇ → peṇgaḷ | woman → women |
| das Auto → die Autos | dahs OW-toh / dee OW-tohs | கார் → கார்கள்kār → kārgaḷ | car → cars |
| der Mann → die Männer | dair mahn / dee MEN-ner | மனிதன் → மனிதர்கள்manithan → manitharkaḷ | man → men |
| das Buch → die Bücher | dahs bookh / dee BUE-kher | புத்தகம் → புத்தகங்கள்puthakam → puthakangaḷ | book → books |
| die Stadt → die Städte | dee shtaht / dee SHTED-teh | நகரம் → நகரங்கள்nagaram → nagarangaḷ | city → cities |