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Unclassified Nouns by Jeffery Donley, Ph.D.

There are a small number of nouns that do not belong to Class I, Class II, or Class III. Even though they have to be declined like the weak declension in the singular, you have to attach an -s in the genitive singular as with strong nouns. These irregularly declined nouns are weak in the plural and end in -(e)n, but do not acquire an umlaut.

Exercise 29

The singular and plural of the word der Glaube (“belief”) are used in the following examples. Some of the examples have mistakes in the nouns that you must find and correct.

<tgroup cols="3"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="33%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="33%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="34%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>1. Acc:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>die Glaubens</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>2. Dat:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>den Glaubens</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>3. Gen:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>der Glauben</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>4. Nom:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>die Glaube</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>5. Acc:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>den Glauben</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>6. Dat:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>dem Glauben</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>7. Gen:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>des Glaube</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>8. Nom:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>der Glaubens</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 30</h2> <p>Decline the word <emphasis>das Herz</emphasis> (“heart”) in the singular and plural.</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="3"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="33%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="33%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="34%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>1. Gen:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>der</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>2. Nom:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>die</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>3. Acc:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>die</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>4. Dat:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>den</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>5. Nom:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>das</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>6. Dat:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>dem</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>7. Gen:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>des</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>8. Acc:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>das</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 31</h2> <p>Decline the word <emphasis>der Wille</emphasis> (“will”) in the singular and plural.</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="3"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="33%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="33%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="34%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>1. Gen:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>der</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>2. Dat:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>dem</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>3. Nom:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>der</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>4. Acc:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>die</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>5. Gen:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>des</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>6. Acc:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>den</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>7. Nom:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>die</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>8. Dat:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>den</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 32</h2> <p>Decline the word <emphasis>der Gedanke</emphasis> (“thought”) in the singular and plural.</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="3"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="33%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="33%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="34%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>1. Nom:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>die</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>2. Dat:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>den</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>3. Gen:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>der</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>4. Acc:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>die</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>5. Dat:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>dem</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>6. Gen:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>des</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>7. Nom:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>der</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>8. Acc:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>den</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <h2>Exercise 33</h2> <p>Attach an <emphasis>-s</emphasis> to the nominative to create all plurals of foreign words — which are strong singular nouns. Keep in mind that you are not to attach the <emphasis>-n</emphasis> in these plurals.</p> <p>Practice making plurals from the singulars of the following nouns. The left column is the singular. Fill in the blanks with the correct plural.</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="3"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="33%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="33%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="34%" align="left" rowsep="0" colsep="0"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>1. Nom:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>das Hotel</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>2. Nom:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>das Piano</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>3. Nom:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>das Auto</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>4. Nom:</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>das Kino</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>________________</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <!--/gc--> <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/german-practice/the-noun/the-combo-declension-or-mixed-declension.htm" title="The “Combo-Declension,” or Mixed Declension">The “Combo-Declension,” or Mixed Declension</a></li><li class="next"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/german-practice/the-noun/essential-elements-of-nouns.htm" title="Essential Elements of Nouns">Essential Elements of Nouns</a> </li></ul></div></div> <div id="coda"> <div id="rel"><div class="n5">Related Articles</div><ul> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/german-practice/the-noun/unclassified-nouns.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Unclassified Nouns - German Practice </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/german-practice/the-noun/the-combo-declension-or-mixed-declension.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> The “Combo-Declension,” or Mixed Declension - German Pract... 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