plural nouns in German
What's the easiest and most effective way to learn the plural rules in German? Is there any rules based on which we pick the endings ( e- er-en-s) or we learn it like parrots by repeating till it sticks.

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Answer

A bit of both: there are some useful rules (e.g. if it has an -ung suffix, the plural is -ungen), but there are also lots of exceptions. In general it seems to be best to learn the relevant plural form for each new bit of vocabulary, just as one has to for gender. You can use mnemonic techniques to help make these things stick.

Answer

It's a bit like guessing the gender of a noun. If you recognize a certain suffix, like "-ung", "-heit/-keit", "-chen", it will not only tell you the gender of a noun, but also the pattern for the plural form. For the remaining nouns, you will probably have to memorize the plural form with each word.

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