die · Feminine (Femininum)A1Feminine DeclensionPeople & Family

die Familie

family

Nominative Sg.die Familie

Genitive Sg.der Familie

Nominative Plural

die Familien

Dative Pluralden Familien

Gender / Plural CueLatin loan -ie (unstressed -i-e) -> feminine (die)

Full 4-Case Declension Table

Switch determiner types to inspect how articles and noun endings change together.

Definite (der / die / das): Used for specific, already known, or general-category nouns.

Case (Fall)	Question	Singular	Plural
Nominative Nominativ (Werfall)	Wer oder was?	die Familie	die Familien
Accusative Akkusativ (Wenfall)	Wen oder was?	die Familie	die Familien
Dative Dativ (Wemfall)	Wem?	der Familie	den Familien
Genitive Genitiv (Wesfall)	Wessen?	der Familie	der Familien

Indefinite (ein / eine): Used when introducing a countable singular noun; has no plural article in German.

Case (Fall)	Question	Singular	Plural
Nominative Nominativ (Werfall)	Wer oder was?	eine Familie	Familien
Accusative Akkusativ (Wenfall)	Wen oder was?	eine Familie	Familien
Dative Dativ (Wemfall)	Wem?	einer Familie	Familien
Genitive Genitiv (Wesfall)	Wessen?	einer Familie	Familien

Negative (kein / keine): Negates nouns with or without an indefinite article; follows ein-words in singular and die in plural.

Case (Fall)	Question	Singular	Plural
Nominative Nominativ (Werfall)	Wer oder was?	keine Familie	keine Familien
Accusative Akkusativ (Wenfall)	Wen oder was?	keine Familie	keine Familien
Dative Dativ (Wemfall)	Wem?	keiner Familie	keinen Familien
Genitive Genitiv (Wesfall)	Wessen?	keiner Familie	keiner Familien

Possessive (mein / dein / …): Uses ein-word endings in singular and definite-like endings in plural (mein/dein/sein/ihr/unser/euer/Ihr).

Case (Fall)	Question	Singular	Plural
Nominative Nominativ (Werfall)	Wer oder was?	meine Familie	meine Familien
Accusative Akkusativ (Wenfall)	Wen oder was?	meine Familie	meine Familien
Dative Dativ (Wemfall)	Wem?	meiner Familie	meinen Familien
Genitive Genitiv (Wesfall)	Wessen?	meiner Familie	meiner Familien

Why These Endings Work

All feminine (die) nouns stay completely unchanged in the singular across Nominative, Accusative, Dative, and Genitive.

Feminine nouns never change their own ending in the singular across all four cases.
Plural "Familien" already ends in -n or -s, so Dative plural stays Familien.

Pattern summary: Only the article changes in singular (die / die / der / der); plural takes -n in Dative unless ending in -n or -s.

Example Sentences in Context

Nominative

Meine Familie wohnt in München.

My family lives in Munich.

Accusative

Am Wochenende besuche ich meine Familie.

At the weekend I visit my family.

Dative

Weihnachten feiern wir mit der Familie.

We celebrate Christmas with the family.

Interactive Tools & Related Guides

Check "Familie" in Der/Die/Das Checker Analyze in Compound Deconstructor Inspect Example in Sentence Analyzer

German Gender & ArticlesPredict der, die, das with high-frequency endings The Four German CasesNominative, Accusative, Dative, and Genitive roles Noun Plurals & Dative -nPlural patterns and the Dative plural -n rule Dative Case GuideIndirect objects, prepositions, and der + feminine nouns

FAQs: die Familie

Is "Familie" der, die, or das in German?

"Familie" takes the feminine definite article "die" (die Familie). Gender cue: Latin loan -ie (unstressed -i-e) -> feminine (die).

What is the plural and Dative plural of "die Familie"?

The Nominative plural of die Familie is "die Familien" (pattern: -n). In the Dative plural it becomes "den Familien".

How does "die Familie" change in the Genitive, Accusative, and Dative?

As a feminine noun, "Familie" keeps the exact same stem in all four singular cases; only the article changes (die Familie / die Familie / der Familie / der Familie).