die · Feminine (Femininum)A1Feminine DeclensionPeople & Family

die Mutter

mother

Nominative Sg.die Mutter

Genitive Sg.der Mutter

Nominative Plural

die Mütter

Dative Pluralden Müttern

Gender / Plural CueNatural female gender (die); umlaut-only plural (die Mütter)

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 Mutter	die Mütter
Accusative Akkusativ (Wenfall)	Wen oder was?	die Mutter	die Mütter
Dative Dativ (Wemfall)	Wem?	der Mutter	den Müttern
Genitive Genitiv (Wesfall)	Wessen?	der Mutter	der Mütter

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 Mutter	Mütter
Accusative Akkusativ (Wenfall)	Wen oder was?	eine Mutter	Mütter
Dative Dativ (Wemfall)	Wem?	einer Mutter	Müttern
Genitive Genitiv (Wesfall)	Wessen?	einer Mutter	Mütter

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 Mutter	keine Mütter
Accusative Akkusativ (Wenfall)	Wen oder was?	keine Mutter	keine Mütter
Dative Dativ (Wemfall)	Wem?	keiner Mutter	keinen Müttern
Genitive Genitiv (Wesfall)	Wessen?	keiner Mutter	keiner Mütter

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 Mutter	meine Mütter
Accusative Akkusativ (Wenfall)	Wen oder was?	meine Mutter	meine Mütter
Dative Dativ (Wemfall)	Wem?	meiner Mutter	meinen Müttern
Genitive Genitiv (Wesfall)	Wessen?	meiner Mutter	meiner Mütter

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.
Dative plural adds -n to the plural stem: Mütter → Müttern.

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 Mutter kocht gern.

My mother likes cooking.

Accusative

Ich rufe meine Mutter jeden Sonntag an.

I call my mother every Sunday.

Interactive Tools & Related Guides

Check "Mutter" 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 Mutter

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

"Mutter" takes the feminine definite article "die" (die Mutter). Gender cue: Natural female gender (die); umlaut-only plural (die Mütter).

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

The Nominative plural of die Mutter is "die Mütter" (pattern: ¨-). In the Dative plural it becomes "den Müttern".

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

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