Language/Swiss-german/Grammar/Plurals

Swiss German Grammar - Plurals

Hi Swiss German learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will talk about plurals in Swiss German. As you may know, one of the most challenging aspects of Swiss German is the way we form our plurals. But don't worry, we'll make it simple and fun!

Introduction

In Swiss German, we use different ways to form plurals depending on the word's gender, ending, or origin. While some plurals are formed by adding the suffix -e, -n, -er or -s, others change their stem or receive an umlaut. Therefore, it's essential to learn the plurals by heart along with their corresponding article, gender, and pronunciation.

In this lesson, we will go through the most common plural forms in Swiss German, with some cultural references and exciting facts that will help you remember them.

With the completion of this lesson, consider investigating these related pages: Gender, Pronouns, Questions & Give your Opinion.

Plural endings

To form the most frequent plural endings in Swiss German, we add one of the following suffixes to the singular noun:

Singular	Plural (suffix)	Translation
der Tag	dä Tag**-e**	the day-s	das Brot	d'Brot**-e**	the bread-s	die Hand	d'Händ**-e**	the hand-s	die Frau	d'Frau**-en**	the woman-n	das Kind	d'Chind**-er**	the child-ren	der Hund	d'Hund**-i**	the dog-s	das Auto	d'Auto**-s**	the car-s	das Semester	d'Semester**-s**	the semester-s	der Film	d'Film**-e**	the film-s	die Brille	d'Brill**-e**	the glasses

• • -e**, **-en**, and **-er** are the most common plural endings, depending on the ending of the singular noun.

• • -i** is a typical plural ending for words borrowed from Italian, such as "Panini" or "Spaghetti."

Note that d' means "the" and is used for all genders and cases.

Can you think of other Italian words borrowed by Swiss German? We also use lots of words borrowed from French, such as "Filet" (steak), "Menu" (menu), or "Bureau" (office). Check here for more Swiss French words.

Now, let's have a dialogue to help us see plurals in context:

• Person 1: Ich ha dr Tag freii. (I have the day off.)
• Person 2: Super, dä Tag eignet sich zum Wände. (Great, the days are perfect for hiking.)

Plurals with umlaut

Some words form their plural by changing their stem vowel and adding an umlaut: ä, ö, or ü. This umlaut applies only to nouns whose singular ends in -e, -el, -en, -er, -lein, -li, -ner, -sel, or -erli.

Singular	Plural (umlaut)	Translation
das Blatt	d'Blättli**-er**	the leaf-lets	der Mann	d'Männ**-er**	the men	das Buch	d'Büecher**-**	the book-s	der Stuhl	d'Stühli**-**	the chair-s	das Glas	d'Gläser**-**	the glass-es	der Vogel	d'Vögel**-**	the bird-s	das Kind	d'Chind**-erli**	the little children

Note that some plurals are formed from the singular of other German dialects, such as Vorarlbergisch or Alemannisch.

Here's a dialogue:

• Person 1: Ich ha e neus Buch kauft. (I bought a new book.)
• Person 2: Was? Wievili Büecher hesch du dehei? (What? How many books do you have at home?)

Plural without ending

Very few Swiss German nouns don't receive any plural ending, like in English. These words are usually of Latin or Greek origin and are already plural. Note that this occurs mostly in academic or technical vocabulary.

Singular	Plural	Translation
die Serie	d'Serie	the series	das Virus	d'Virus	the virus	der Status	d'Status	the status	das Basis	d'Basis	the basis

Swiss German speakers tend to borrow technical expressions from other languages, such as English or French. We can say, "mir hänn e Meeting gha" (we had a meeting), or "de Laptop funktioniert nöd" (the laptop doesn't work).

Here's another dialogue:

• Person 1: Ich ha mi am Samstig griegt. (I got sick on Saturday.)
• Person 2: Hoffentlich hesch kei Virus gha! (Hopefully, you didn't catch a virus!)

Irregular plurals

Of course, some nouns are just exceptions, and their plural forms have nothing in common with their singular forms. Therefore, the best way to learn them is to memorize them:

Singular	Plural	Translation
d'Huus	d'Hüüs**-er**	the house-s	der Fuess	d'Füess**-e**	the foot/feet	die Muus	d'Müüs**-e**	the mouse/mice	dr Maa	d'Maa**-n**	the man/men	di Frau	d'Frou**-e**	the woman/en

It's interesting to know that the plural form of "mouse" was the inspiration for the name of the Swiss computer peripheral company Logitech; which derives from the French word "Logiciel," meaning software, combined with "technique." Read more about it here.

Let's have one last dialogue:

• Person 1: Ich ha zwei Huus. (I have two houses.)
• Person 2: Wow, sind d'Hüüs gross? (Wow, are the houses big?)

Conclusion

Well done! You've made it through the most common plural forms in Swiss German. Of course, there are always exceptions and variations, but with these examples, you can already make yourself understood by Swiss German speakers.

To improve your Swiss German Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions!

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➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Sources

• Language of Switzerland
• Swiss German
• Logitech

Now that you've completed this lesson, don't stop learning! Check out these related topics: Negation, Future Tense, How to Use Have & Conditional Mood.

Other Lessons

• Give your Opinion
• Questions
• Gender
• Negation
• How to Use Have
• How to Use Be
• Future Tense
• Pronouns
• Adjectives