N-Deklination - Weak noun declension

In German, nouns are divided into two main groups when they change according to case (Kasus):

The weak noun group (N-Deklination) – mainly masculine nouns with special rules.
The strong noun group – includes most other nouns, with a more common pattern of change.

1. The weak noun group (N-Deklination)

🔹 What is the N-Deklination rule?

The N-Deklination is the group of weak nouns (schwache Nomen), mainly masculine (Maskulin) nouns with a special declension rule.
These nouns stay the same in the Nominativ but add "-n" or "-en" in the Genitiv, Dativ, and Akkusativ.

Example:

Nominativ: Der Student lernt Deutsch.
(The student studies German.)

Akkusativ: Ich sehe den Studenten.
(I see that student.)

Dativ: Ich gebe dem Studenten ein Buch.
(I give the student a book.)

Genitiv: Das Buch des Studenten ist interessant.
(The student's book is interesting.)

🔹 How to recognize weak nouns

📌 Most masculine (Maskulin) nouns ending in -e or with certain special suffixes belong to the N-Deklination group.

Sign 1: All masculine nouns ending in -e are weak nouns

Example:

Kasus	Singular (Singular)	Plural (Plural)
Nominativ	der Junge (boy)	die Jungen
Akkusativ	den Jungen	die Jungen
Dativ	dem Jungen	den Jungen
Genitiv	des Jungen	der Jungen

Sign 2: Masculine nouns ending in -af, -ant, -at, -ent, -ist belong to the weak noun group

Example:

Kasus	der Polizist (police officer)	der Präsident (president)
Nominativ	der Polizist	der Präsident
Akkusativ	den Polizisten	den Präsidenten
Dativ	dem Polizisten	dem Präsidenten
Genitiv	des Polizisten	des Präsidenten

Note:
These nouns all add "-en" in the Genitiv, Dativ, and Akkusativ.

🔹 A few exceptions among weak nouns

Some nouns do not fully follow this rule but still belong to the N-Deklination group.

Noun	Nominativ	Akkusativ	Dativ	Genitiv
der Name (name)	der Name	den Namen	dem Namen	des Namens
der Friede (peace)	der Friede	den Frieden	dem Frieden	des Friedens

Note:
Some nouns such as "der Name" and "der Friede" add "-ns" in the Genitiv instead of "-en".

2. The strong noun group (Starke Deklination)

🔹 How to recognize strong nouns

Strong nouns include:

All masculine nouns that do not have the recognizing signs of weak nouns.
All feminine (Feminin) nouns.
All neuter (Neutrum) nouns except "das Herz".

🔹 Rules for declining strong noun endings

Rule 1: Singular masculine & neuter nouns in the Genitiv → add "-s" or "-es"

Example:

Noun	Nominativ	Genitiv
der Tisch (table)	der Tisch	des Tisches
das Auto (car)	das Auto	des Autos

Note:

Nouns ending in a consonant usually add "-es".
Nouns ending in a vowel usually add "-s".

Rule 2: Plural nouns in the Dativ always add "-n"

Example:

Kasus	Singular (Singular)	Plural (Plural)
Nominativ	die Blume (flower)	die Blumen
Dativ	der Blume	den Blumen

Note:

This rule applies to all strong nouns in the plural.
Nouns that already end in "-n" or "-s" do not need an added ending.

🎯 3. Summary: Important notes

ℹ️ Note

💡

Weak nouns (N-Deklination) are mainly masculine nouns ending in "-e", "-af", "-ant", "-at", "-ent", "-ist".
Weak nouns add "-en" in the Genitiv, Dativ, and Akkusativ.
Strong nouns include all feminine nouns, most masculine and neuter nouns.
Strong masculine & neuter nouns add "-s" or "-es" in the Genitiv.
Plural nouns always add "-n" in the Dativ, unless they end in "-s" or "-n".

ℹ️ Exercise

Practice exercise

Apply what you have just learned about the N-Deklination:

📝 B1 exercises overview

Practice declining weak and strong nouns according to the different cases.