11.9 Weak masculine nouns
As the name suggests, this a group of masculine nouns which predominantly denote living beings. Although they are occasionally confused by students with adjectival nouns, they decline in a different way: weak masculine nouns add "-(e)n" throughout the plural and in all singular cases other than the nominative.
The table below gives the endings for "der Student" (= (male) student) and "der Name" (= name):
 Grammar 7: Declension of weak adjectival nouns |
| |
Singular |
Plural |
| Nominative |
der Student |
die Studenten |
| Accusative |
den Studenten |
die Studenten |
| Dative |
dem Studenten |
den Studenten |
| |
| Nominative |
der Name |
die Namen |
| Accusative |
den Namen |
die Namen |
| Dative |
dem Namen |
den Namen |
|
Examples
- Ihr Bruder ist Student.
(Her brother is a student (= nominative).)
- Das ist ziemlich viel für einen Studenten.
(That's quite a lot for a student (= accusative).)
- Meine Schwester ist mit einem Studenten verlobt.
(My sister is engaged to a student (= dative).)
- Alle Studenten müssen nach dem Essen abwaschen!
(All of the male students (= nominative) must wash up after the meal!)
- Wie ist Ihr Name?
(What is your name (= nominative)?)
- Auf welchen Namen geht das Zimmer?
(In what name (= accusative) should I book the room?)
Male nationalities ending in "-e"
These include many of the masculine nouns describing nationalities that we met in Chapter 2.
| Grammar 8: Weak masculine nouns - nationalities |
 |
der Brite
(Briton (male)) |
|
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der Monegasse
(Monegasque man) |
 |
der Bulgare
(Bulgarian man) |
|
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der Pole
(Polish man) |
 |
der Chinese
(Chinese man) |
|
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der Portugiese
(Portuguese man) |
 |
der Däne
(Dane (male)) |
|
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der Rumäne
(Romanian man) |
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der Este
(Estonian man) |
|
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der Russe
(Russian (male)) |
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der Finne
(Finnish man) |
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|
der Schotte
(Scotsman) |
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der Franzose
(Frenchman) |
|
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der Schwede
(Swede (male)) |
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der Grieche
(Greek (male)) |
|
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der Slowake
(Slowak (male)) |
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der Ire
(Irishman) |
|
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der Slowene
(Slovenian man) |
 |
der Kroate
(Croatian man) |
|
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der Tscheche
(Czech man) |
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der Lette
(Latvian man) |
|
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der Türke
(Turk (male)) |
|
Test yourself!
You can test yourself on your knowledge of this group of weak masculine nouns by clicking on the bar below:
Other weak masculine nouns ending in "-e"
Other weak masculine nouns ending in "-e" that we have encountered so far or are in common usage include:
| Grammar 9: Weak masculine nouns ending in "-e" |
 |
der Affe
(ape) |
|
|
der Knabe
(boy; lad) |
|
der Buchstabe
(letter of alphabet) |
|
|
der Kollege
(colleague (male)) |
|
der Bulle
(bull; policeman) |
|
|
der Kunde
(customer (male)) |
|
der Bursche
(boy; lad) |
|
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der Löwe
(lion) |
|
der Experte
(expert) |
|
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der Name
(name) |
|
der Hase
(hare; rabbit) |
|
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der Neffe
(nephew) |
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der Jude
(Jew (male)) |
|
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der Sklave
(slave (male)) |
|
der Junge
(boy) |
|
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der Zeuge
(witness (male)) |
|
Notes
1. As we shall see in the following chapter, both "der Buchstabe" and "der Name" belong to a separate subdivision of weak masculine nouns and behave differently in the genitive case.
2. You would only use "der Experte", "der Jude", "der Kollege", "der Kunde", "der Löwe", "der Sklave", and "der Zeuge" if you are speaking of male experts, Jews, colleagues etc. The female equivalents have their own separate German noun, all of which end in "-in" - "die Expertin (-innen)", "die Jüdin (-innen)", "die Kollegin (-innen)", "die Kundin (-innen)", "die Löwin (-innen)", "die Sklavin (-innen)" and "die Zeugin (-innen)".
Masculine nouns coming from the Greek and other foreign languages
This is particularly the case with masculine nouns ending in "-and", "-ant", "-ent", "-ist", "-krat" and "-log(e)". These primarily (but not exclusively) refer to human beings:
| Grammar 10: Weak masculine nouns with certain endings |
|
der Architekt
(architect) |
|
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der Katholik
(Catholic) |
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der Biologe
(biologist) |
|
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der Komponist
(composer) |
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der Bürokrat
(bureaucrat) |
|
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der Monarch
(monarch) |
|
der Demokrat
(democrat) |
|
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der Philosoph
(philosopher) |
|
der Diplomat
(diplomat) |
|
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der Polizist
(policeman) |
|
der Elefant
(elephant) |
|
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der Präsident
(president) |
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der Fotograf
(photographer) |
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der Soziologe
(sociologist) |
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der Journalist
(journalist) |
|
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der Student
(student) |
|
Other German masculine nouns
There are a few native German weak masculine nouns which do not end in "-e" in the nominative singular:
| Grammar 11: Other weak masculine nouns |
|
der Bär
(bear) |
|
|
der Herr
(man; gentleman) |
|
der Bauer
(peasant) |
|
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der Mensch
(human being) |
|
der Bayer
(Bavarian) |
|
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der Nachbar
(neighbour) |
|
der Fürst
(prince) |
|
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der Narr
(fool) |
|
der Graf
(count) |
|
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der Oberst
(colonel) |
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der Held
(hero) |
|
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der Prinz
(prince) |
|
Note the irregular declension of "der Herr". This weak masculine noun adds "-en" throughout the plural, but "-n" in the singular for all cases other than the nominative.
| Grammar 12: Declension of "der Herr" |
| |
Singular |
Plural |
| Nominative |
der Herr |
die Herren |
| Accusative |
den Herrn |
die Herren |
| Dative |
dem Herrn |
den Herren |
|
Test yourself!
You can test yourself on your knowledge of these groups of weak masculine nouns by clicking on the bar below:
 Chapter 11.10: Prepositions and questions
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