In German, a group of masculine nouns (Maskulin) has a special declension: they add -(e)n in all cases except the nominative singular. This is called the n-Deklination (weak declension).

✔️ der Student → den Studenten / dem Studenten / des Studenten

1️⃣ How the n-Deklination is declined

Kasus	Singular	Plural
Nominativ	der Student	die Studenten
Akkusativ	den Studenten	die Studenten
Dativ	dem Studenten	den Studenten
Genitiv	des Studenten	der Studenten

Note

📌 Only the nominative singular stays unchanged. All other cases add -(e)n.

2️⃣ Which nouns belong to the n-Deklination?

🔹 Group 1: Nouns referring to people, ending in -e

Word	Meaning	Akkusativ
der Junge	boy	den Jungen
der Kollege	colleague	den Kollegen
der Kunde	customer	den Kunden
der Neffe	nephew	den Neffen
der Zeuge	witness	den Zeugen
der Experte	expert	den Experten
der Riese	giant	den Riesen

🔹 Group 2: Nouns of foreign origin

Ending in -ant, -ent, -ist, -at, -ot, -et, -oge, -ad, -af, -and

Ending	Word	Meaning	Akkusativ
-ent	der Student	student	den Studenten
-ent	der Patient	patient	den Patienten
-ent	der Präsident	president	den Präsidenten
-ant	der Elefant	elephant	den Elefanten
-ant	der Demonstrant	demonstrator	den Demonstranten
-ist	der Polizist	police officer	den Polizisten
-ist	der Journalist	journalist	den Journalisten
-ist	der Tourist	tourist	den Touristen
-at	der Soldat	soldier	den Soldaten
-at	der Demokrat	democrat	den Demokraten
-oge	der Biologe	biologist	den Biologen
-oge	der Psychologe	psychologist	den Psychologen

🔹 Group 3: Some special nouns to remember

Word	Meaning	Akkusativ
der Mensch	human being	den Menschen
der Herr	gentleman, sir	den Herrn
der Nachbar	neighbor	den Nachbarn
der Bauer	farmer	den Bauern
der Held	hero	den Helden
der Prinz	prince	den Prinzen

🔹 Special exception: Genitive adds -ns

Some nouns belong to the n-Deklination but in the genitive add -ns instead of -n:

Nominativ	Genitiv	Meaning
der Name	des Namens	name
der Buchstabe	des Buchstabens	letter
der Gedanke	des Gedankens	thought
der Glaube	des Glaubens	belief
der Wille	des Willens	will
das Herz	des Herzens	heart

:::

das Herz is the only neuter noun belonging to the n-Deklination!

Akkusativ: das Herz (unchanged)
Dativ: dem Herzen
Genitiv: des Herzens :::

3️⃣ How to recognize them quickly

Quick memory tip

💡

Nouns belonging to the n-Deklination are usually:

Masculine (Maskulin)
Refer to people or animals
End in -e or foreign endings: -ent, -ant, -ist, -at, -oge
The plural is always -en or -n

❌ Nouns that do NOT belong to the n-Deklination: der Laden, der Garten, der Vater (masculine but refer to things or have a different plural)

4️⃣ Common mistakes

❌ Wrong	✅ Correct
Ich helfe der Student.	Ich helfe dem Studenten.
Er fragt der Kollege.	Er fragt den Kollegen.
Das Büro des Patient.	Das Büro des Patienten.
Ich kenne ein Journalist.	Ich kenne einen Journalisten.

🎯 Summary

Note

💡

The n-Deklination applies to masculine nouns, usually referring to people/animals
Add -(e)n in all cases except the nominative singular
Recognize them by their endings: -e, -ent, -ant, -ist, -at, -oge
Genitive exception -ns: der Name → des Namens
das Herz is the only neuter noun in this group

Exercise

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