N-Declension (Weak Nouns) in German

In Brief

Most German masculine nouns do not change in the accusative or dative, but a group called weak masculine nouns adds -n or -en in every singular case except the nominative: der Student, but den Studenten, dem Studenten, des Studenten. The ending belongs to the noun, not just to the article.

Overview

N-declension (N-Deklination) is the pattern used by a particular group of masculine nouns. A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. With these nouns, the basic nominative singular form—used when the noun is the subject, the person or thing performing the action—has no extra ending. The other three German cases add -n or -en.

This matters because English normally shows a noun's role through word order, while German also uses case (a change in articles, pronouns, and sometimes noun endings that shows a word's job in the sentence). It is not enough to change der to den or dem: you must also say den Jungen and dem Jungen. You will often meet this B1 pattern in words for people, nationalities, professions, and animals.

N-declension is a property of the noun, not a freely chosen rule for every masculine noun. Compare the weak noun der Student → den Studenten with the regular masculine noun der Lehrer → den Lehrer. Learning the nominative form together with one non-nominative form—der Student, den Studenten—makes the class easier to remember.

How It Works

The four-case pattern

A subject performs the action; a direct object is directly affected by it; an indirect object is often the recipient or beneficiary; and the genitive commonly expresses possession or association. These roles correspond here to nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive.

Case	Typical job	Student	Junge	Herr
Nominative	subject	der Student	der Junge	der Herr
Accusative	direct object	den Studenten	den Jungen	den Herrn
Dative	indirect object or after a dative preposition	dem Studenten	dem Jungen	dem Herrn
Genitive	possession or association	des Studenten	des Jungen	des Herrn

The practical rule is:

• Nominative singular: use the dictionary form: der Mensch.
• All other singular cases: add -n or -en: den/dem/des Menschen.
• If the noun already ends in unstressed -e, add only -n: Junge → Jungen, Löwe → Löwen.
• Most other weak nouns add -en: Student → Studenten, Mensch → Menschen.
• Herr has the singular forms Herrn outside the nominative, but the plural is Herren.

The article and noun ending work together. In Ich spreche mit dem Kunden, dem signals dative masculine and Kunden shows that Kunde follows N-declension.

The plural often looks the same

For many weak nouns, the non-nominative singular form is identical to the plural form. Context and the article tell you which meaning is intended.

Form	Meaning
der Student	the student
den Studenten	the student (accusative) or the students (dative, with context)
die Studenten	the students
mit den Studenten	with the students

In dative plural, German normally adds -n to a plural noun if possible. Weak nouns such as Studenten already end in -n, so no further ending is added: mit den Studenten, never mit den Studentenn.

Which nouns are usually weak?

There is no perfectly reliable test, but several groups are useful predictors.

Masculine nouns ending in unstressed -e

Many masculine nouns ending in -e, especially words for people or animals, are weak:

Nominative	Accusative/dative/genitive	Meaning
der Junge	den/dem/des Jungen	boy
der Kunde	den/dem/des Kunden	customer
der Kollege	den/dem/des Kollegen	male colleague
der Zeuge	den/dem/des Zeugen	witness
der Löwe	den/dem/des Löwen	lion
der Hase	den/dem/des Hasen	hare, rabbit

The final -e is retained; only -n is added.

International words with characteristic suffixes

Many masculine loanwords referring to people belong to N-declension, particularly those ending in -ant, -ent, -ist, -at, -oge, and often -nom:

Nominative	Non-nominative singular	Meaning
der Praktikant	den Praktikanten	intern
der Präsident	den Präsidenten	president
der Student	den Studenten	student
der Journalist	den Journalisten	journalist
der Diplomat	den Diplomaten	diplomat
der Biologe	den Biologen	biologist
der Ökonom	den Ökonomen	economist

Treat these endings as strong clues, not as permission to alter every foreign-looking noun. Check a dictionary when unsure.

Common nouns that must be learned individually

Some frequent weak nouns have no immediately obvious suffix pattern:

Nominative	Non-nominative singular	Meaning
der Mensch	den Menschen	human being, person
der Bär	den Bären	bear
der Bauer	den Bauern	farmer
der Nachbar	den Nachbarn	male neighbour
der Held	den Helden	hero
der Prinz	den Prinzen	prince
der Graf	den Grafen	count
der Herr	den Herrn	gentleman; Mr

What does not follow the pattern?

Do not apply N-declension simply because a noun is masculine or names a person. Common strong nouns remain unchanged in accusative and dative singular: der Lehrer → den Lehrer, der Fahrer → dem Fahrer, der Arzt → den Arzt. Their genitive usually takes -(e)s: des Lehrers, des Arztes.

Examples in Context

German	English	Note
Der Junge wartet vor der Schule.	The boy is waiting outside the school.	Nominative subject: no -n
Ich sehe den Jungen.	I see the boy.	Accusative: Junge → Jungen
Ich helfe dem Studenten.	I help the student.	Dative after helfen
Das Fahrrad des Studenten steht draußen.	The student's bicycle is outside.	Genitive: Studenten, not Students
Das Herz des Menschen ist komplex.	The human heart is complex.	Genitive of Mensch
Wir sprechen mit dem neuen Kollegen.	We are talking with the new colleague.	Dative after mit; the adjective also changes
Kennst du diesen Journalisten?	Do you know this journalist?	Accusative after kennen
Der Kunde bezahlt die Rechnung.	The customer pays the bill.	Nominative Kunde has no added -n
Die Verkäuferin berät den Kunden.	The sales assistant advises the customer.	Accusative Kunden
Die Aussage des Zeugen war wichtig.	The witness's statement was important.	Genitive Zeugen
Sie arbeitet für einen Diplomaten.	She works for a diplomat.	Accusative after für
Bitte geben Sie Herrn Weber die Unterlagen.	Please give Mr Weber the documents.	Dative Herrn before a surname
Wir haben mit mehreren Nachbarn gesprochen.	We spoke with several neighbours.	Dative plural; no extra -n
Der Löwe folgt dem Elefanten.	The lion follows the elephant.	Löwe is nominative; Elefant is dative

Notice that the ending remains even when an adjective stands between the article and noun: mit dem neuen Kollegen, für einen erfahrenen Diplomaten. The adjective ending and the noun's N-declension ending are separate parts of the grammar.

Common Mistakes

Changing the article but not the noun

• Wrong: Ich sehe den Student.
• Right: Ich sehe den Studenten.
• Why: The accusative article is den, and the weak noun must also take -en.

Adding the ending in the nominative

• Wrong: Der Jungen wartet draußen.
• Right: Der Junge wartet draußen.
• Why: Nominative singular is the one case without the N-declension ending.

Using genitive -s on a weak noun

• Wrong: die Meinung des Students
• Right: die Meinung des Studenten
• Why: A weak noun uses the same -(e)n form in accusative, dative, and genitive singular.

Applying the rule to every masculine person noun

• Wrong: Ich frage den Lehreren.
• Right: Ich frage den Lehrer.
• Why: Lehrer is a regular strong masculine noun, not a weak noun. Its accusative singular does not change.

Doubling the dative plural ending

• Wrong: mit den Studentenn
• Right: mit den Studenten
• Why: The plural already ends in -n, so German does not add another one.

Confusing singular and plural without checking the determiner

• Misread: Ich besuche den Kollegen as “I visit the colleagues.”
• Correct reading: “I visit the colleague.”
• Why: den can mark masculine accusative singular, while plural accusative would be die Kollegen. Always read the article together with the noun.

Usage Notes

N-declension is standard in both speech and writing. Omitting the ending—mit dem Kollege, für den Kunde—is common in learner speech but is not the neutral standard form. In rapid conversation the final syllable may be pronounced lightly, yet it remains grammatically present.

Names of roles and people make the pattern especially frequent in work, education, news, and official language: mit dem Präsidenten, die E-Mail des Kunden, ein Gespräch mit dem Praktikanten. The form Herrn is also extremely common in polite and administrative contexts: Sehr geehrter Herr Klein uses nominative Herr in direct address, while für Herrn Klein and mit Herrn Klein use Herrn.

English offers little help with the noun ending itself. English changes “he” to “him,” but normally leaves nouns unchanged: “the student” remains “the student.” In German, look beyond word order and ask which case the verb or preposition requires. Verbs such as helfen and folgen take the dative; prepositions such as mit always take the dative, while für always takes the accusative.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Mixed nouns

A small related group behaves like weak nouns in accusative and dative but adds -ns in the genitive. These are often called mixed nouns because they combine N-declension with a genitive -s.

Case	Name	Gedanke
Nominative	der Name	der Gedanke
Accusative	den Namen	den Gedanken
Dative	dem Namen	dem Gedanken
Genitive	des Namens	des Gedankens

Other well-known members include der Buchstabe → des Buchstabens and der Glaube → des Glaubens. Do not reduce their genitive to des Namen or treat it like the strong form des Names.

The exceptional noun Herz

Herz is neuter, not masculine, but it has a related mixed pattern: das Herz, dem Herzen, des Herzens. Its accusative is normally das Herz without -en. This makes it an exception worth recognising, but it is not a model for other neuter nouns. In das Herz des Menschen, Herz is nominative or accusative according to context, while Menschen is the weak genitive form of Mensch.

Variation in a few nouns

Some nouns show competing weak and strong forms depending on meaning, register, or established usage. Nachbar commonly follows the weak pattern (dem Nachbarn, des Nachbarn), though forms with genitive -s can occur. Dictionaries may label such variation explicitly. For uncommon nouns, checking the genitive and plural entries is safer than guessing from the nominative alone.

Adjectives, determiners, and N-declension can stack several endings in one phrase: wegen eines schwer verletzten Zeugen (“because of a seriously injured witness”). eines marks genitive masculine, verletzten carries the adjective ending, and Zeugen carries the weak noun ending. None of these endings replaces another.

Practice Tips

1. Learn nouns in pairs. Record der Kunde – den Kunden, der Mensch – den Menschen, and der Herr – den Herrn, not only the dictionary form. Include the gender because N-declension is primarily a masculine pattern.
2. Run one noun through four short sentences. For example: Der Student kommt. Ich sehe den Studenten. Ich helfe dem Studenten. Das Buch des Studenten ist neu. Saying the contrast aloud makes the unchanged nominative stand out.
3. Mark case triggers while reading. Circle prepositions such as mit and für, and note verbs such as helfen. Then check whether a following weak noun has its required ending.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Dative Case (Articles) — helps you choose forms such as dem and einem before adding the weak noun ending.