What does diminutive, diminutive form or Verniedlichungsform mean?
By using the diminutive or diminutive form, we can make nouns (i.e. people, animals or things) smaller, cuter or make them look smaller.
das Haus - das Hauschen
der Hund - das Hündchen
das Brot - das Brötchen
the house - the little house
the dog - the little dog
the bread - the bread roll
What endings are used to form diminutives?
To diminish a noun, we add the endings -chen or -lein. However, the suffix -chen is more common and is used more often.
das Kind - das Kindchen
die Ente - das Entlein
Tisch - Tischchen, Tischlein
Schwein - Schweinchen
Fehler - Fehlerchen
the child - das Kindchen
the duck - the duckling
table - little table, little table
pig - Schweinchen
mistake - little mistake
Problem - Problemchen
However, the suffix -chen is more common and is used more often.
When forming the diminutive, the root vowel usually changes to an umlaut.
Often, when forming the diminutive, the root vowel becomes an umlaut.
Vogel => Vögelchen
Wurst => Würstchen
Maus => Mäuschen
Which article do we use with the diminutive?
It doesn't matter whether the main noun is masculine, feminine or neuter, nouns in the diminutive form always have the article das in the nominative singular.
Why is it actually called das Mädchen?
Many people wonder why it is actually called das Mädchen in the nominative singular and not die Mädchen with a feminine article. A girl is a female person and should actually have the feminine article die.
We use the article das because it is also a diminutive, i.e. a diminutive form.
A girl is a young woman or a female child.
But the word is obviously not derived from the word woman. Rather, it comes from the Middle Ages and was derived from the medieval word Magd.
Which article do we use in the plural form of Diminutiv?
The noun does not change in the plural nominative case.
Only the article der changes to the article die, as with all nouns in the nominative plural.
singular - das
das Hündchen
das Häuschen
das Gläschen
plural - die
die Hündchen
die Häuschen
die Gläschen
Which article do we use with the diminutive?
It doesn't matter whether the main noun is masculine, feminine or neuter, nouns in the diminutive form always have the article das in the nominative singular.
Why is it actually called das Mädchen?
Many people wonder why it is actually called das Mädchen in the nominative singular and not die Mädchen with a feminine article. A girl is a female person and should actually have the feminine article die.
Why is that not the case?
We use the article das because it is also a diminutive, i.e. a diminutive form.
A girl is a young woman or a female child.
But the word is obviously not derived from the word woman. Rather, it comes from the Middle Ages and was derived from the medieval word Magd.
Which article do we use in the plural form of Diminutiv?
The noun does not change in the plural nominative case.
Only the article der changes to the article die, as with all nouns in the nominative plural.
singular - das
das Hündchen
das Häuschen
das Gläschen
plural - die
die Hündchen
die Häuschen
die Gläschen
Diminutives that have become independent
There are also many diminutives that have become independent, i.e. they are used as independent terms.
Here are some examples:
das Ohrläppchen
das Hähnchen
das Radieschen
the earlobes
the chickens
the radish
There are also many diminutives that have become independent, i.e. they are used as independent terms.
Here are some examples:
Not all nouns ending in -chen are diminutives.
Here are some examples:
der Drachen
der Kuchen
die Sachen
the dragon
the cake
the things
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