N-declension: den Studenten, dem Kollegen

Some masculine nouns change their ending even in the singular. Learn the noun pattern together with the article, rather than assuming that -en always means plural.

The regular weak pattern is der Student → den Studenten, dem Studenten, des Studenten. Only the nominative singular has the short form. The article changes with the case; the noun takes -n or -en in the other three singular cases.

Common examples are der Kollege → den Kollegen, der Kunde → dem Kunden and der Mensch → des Menschen. A verb or preposition determines the case: unterstützen + accusative, antworten + dative, mit + dative. Learn each noun with its forms; being masculine or referring to a person is not sufficient.

Compare der Lehrer → mit dem Lehrer and die Kollegin → mit der Kollegin. They do not acquire the weak masculine ending in these singular examples. Der Name has a related mixed pattern: den Namen, dem Namen, but des Namens. Do not extend the simple Studenten pattern to every noun.

With a polite name, practise Herr Weber → Ich begrüße Herrn Weber → mit Herrn Weber. The common plural is die Herren. Herr has its own variations, so these exercises use the clear named singular construction rather than treating every rarer form as impossible.

Die Studenten and den Studenten can also occur in the plural; the ending alone does not identify number. Read the full noun phrase: einen Studenten is singular, die Studenten is plural. The examples teach standard written forms and useful distinctions, not every regional or historical variant.

Examples