
N-Deklination
Understanding the German N-Deklination
Case | Singular | Plural |
Nominative | der Junge | die Jungen |
Genitive | des Jungen | der Jungen |
Dative | dem Jungen | den Jungen |
Accusative | den Jungen | die Jungen |
N-Deklination, also known as the n-declension, is a feature of German grammar that involves certain masculine nouns taking an "-n" or "-en" ending in certain cases. Most nouns with n- declension end with an „e“ in the nominative. As you can see in the chart, the genitive, dative, and accusative in Singular and plural are having the same ending.
The Rules of N-Deklination
To figure out the n-declension in German you can apply these rules:
- Always male nouns
- Most nouns are ending with an "e"
Here you can see more specific rules for the N-Deklination:
Characteristic | Examples |
People, job titles, nationalities | der Kollege, der Postbote, der Kroate, der Deutsche, der Junge |
Animals | der Rabe, der Hase, der Löwe, der Affe |
Noun ends with -and | der Diamant |
Noun ends with -ant | der Kommandant, Sekundant, der Demonstrant, der Informant, der Repräsentant, der Garant, der Praktikant |
Noun ends with -ent | der Student, der Präsident, der Dozent, der Referent, der Klient, der Patient, der Assistent, der Komponent |
Noun ends with -oge | der Biologe, der Geologe, der Psychologe, der Archäologe, der Ökologe, der Kardiologe, der Radiologe, der Neurologe, der Meteorologe, der Pathologe, der Astrologe, der Zoologe |
Noun ends with -ad | der Kamerad |
Noun ends with -at | der Soldat, der Bürokrat, der Akrobat, der Kandidat |
Noun ends with -ist | der Journalist, der Pianist, der Florist, der Tourist, der Aktivist, der Kommunist, der Altruist, der Egoist |
Exceptions: There are some exceptions like:
- Bär, Herr, Nachbar
Example sentences with N-Deklination
In the following chart, you can see an example sentence for each rule.
Characteristic | Example Sentence | English |
People, job titles, nationalities | Du bekommst den Brief von dem Postboten. | You get the letter from the postman. |
Animals | Die Federn des Raben sind schwarz. | The raven's feathers are black. |
Noun ends with -and | Die Männer suchen nach dem Diamenten. | The men are looking for the diamond. |
Noun ends with -ant | Die Arbeit des Praktikanten ist langweilig. | The intern's job is boring. |
Noun ends with -ent | Der Arzt behandelt den Patienten. | The doctor treats the patient. |
Noun ends with -oge | Die Praxis des Psychologen ist sehr groß. | The psychologist's office is very large. |
Noun ends with -ad | Der Mann denkt an seinen Kameraden. | The man thinks of his comrade. |
Noun ends with -at | Die Frau wartet auf den Bürokraten. | The woman is waiting for the bureaucrat. |
Noun ends with -ist | Die Reiseziele des Touristen sind sehr vielseitig. | Tourist destinations of the tourist are very diverse. |

Article by Niko
Published 21 Apr 2023