Types of Declensions
The five general case declension classes are:
Singular:
I: no inflection: used for all and only feminine nouns
die Frau, die Frau, der Frau, der Frau
II: genitive -(e)s, dative -(e): used for all neuter and most masculine nouns
der Mann, den Mann, dem Mann(e), des Mann(e)s
das Kind, das Kind, dem Kind(e), des Kind(e)s
III: -(e)n for genitive, dative and accusative: used for masculine nouns on -e and a few others, mostly animate nouns. This class of nouns is often called the n-nouns.
a) der Drache, den Drachen, dem Drachen, des Drachen
b) der Prinz, den Prinzen, dem Prinzen, des Prinzen
IV: -(e)ns for genitive, (e)n for dative and accusative: used for a few masculine nouns.
a) der Buchstabe, den Buchstaben, dem Buchstaben, des Buchstabens
b) der Glaube, den Glauben, dem Glauben, des Glaubens
Plural:
V: dative -n: used for all nouns except those ending in -n or -s in the nominative plural
a) die Kinder, die Kinder, den Kindern, der Kinder
b) die Frauen, die Frauen, den Frauen, der Frauen
Note that these classes do not yet show how to put a singular noun into its plural form.
Read more about this topic: German Nouns
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