die · Feminine (Femininum)A1Feminine DeclensionPeople & Family

die Schwester

sister

Nominative Sg.die Schwester

Genitive Sg.der Schwester

Nominative Plural

die Schwestern

Dative Pluralden Schwestern

Gender / Plural CueNatural female gender (die); adds -n in plural

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

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 Schwester	Schwestern
Accusative Akkusativ (Wenfall)	Wen oder was?	eine Schwester	Schwestern
Dative Dativ (Wemfall)	Wem?	einer Schwester	Schwestern
Genitive Genitiv (Wesfall)	Wessen?	einer Schwester	Schwestern

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

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

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 "Schwestern" already ends in -n or -s, so Dative plural stays Schwestern.

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 Schwester wohnt in Köln.

My sister lives in Cologne.

Accusative

Kennst du meine Schwester schon?

Do you already know my sister?

Interactive Tools & Related Guides

Check "Schwester" 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 Schwester

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

"Schwester" takes the feminine definite article "die" (die Schwester). Gender cue: Natural female gender (die); adds -n in plural.

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

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

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

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