Special features (plural formation)

DA9

There are three noun categories that form the plural in two different ways.

Category 1 : Both types of plural of the nouns belonging to the first category have the same meaning.

Examples	plural 1	plural 2
das Ding	die Dinge	die Dinger
der Kerl	die Kerle	die Kerls
das Mädel	die Mädel	die Mädels
der Junge	die Jungen	die Jungs
der Mund	die Münder	die Münde
der Stau	die Staus	die Staue

Category 2 : The second category consists of nouns that have the same gender in the singular number but different meaning, depending on the type of plural they form.

Examples
nouns with the same gender
	plural 1	meaning A	plural 2	meaning B
die Bank	die Banken	bank	die Bänke	bench
die Mutter	die Mütter	mother	die Muttern	nut
das Wort	die Worte	spoken word	die Wörter	word
der Strauß	die Sträuße	a bunch (of flowers)	die Strauße	ostrich

Category 3 : The third category includes nouns that form two types of plural but also have a different gender and a different meaning in the singular number.

Examples
nouns with different gender
gender 1	plural 1	meaning A	gender 2	plural 2	meaning B
die Leiter	die Leitern	ladder	der Leiter	die Leiter	manager
das Tor	die Tore	gate	der Tor	die Toren	fool
die Steuer	die Steuern	tax	das Steuer	die Steuer	steering wheel
der Gehalt	die Gehalte	content	das Gehalt	die Gehälter	salary