-en
German, suffix/ən/
-en is spelled E-N (2 letters) and appears 72 times per million words in written German, the 1,189th most frequent German word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). -en is a German suffix meaning “A suffix of verbs in their infinitive form” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The German Wiktionary defines it as “nachgestelltes Wortbildungselement, das Verben ableitet”.
What does -en mean in English?
suffix
- 1
A suffix of verbs in their infinitive form.
managen
- 2
A suffix indicating the 1st and 3rd person plural forms (except the present indicative sind of sein).
wir kommen
- 3
A suffix appended to strong verb stems to form the past participle, usually together with ge-.
fallen + ge- and -en → gefallen
suffix
- 1
a suffix appended to some nouns in all of their plural forms; these nouns are so-called “weak” or “mixed” nouns; they are most often feminine, often masculine, rarely neuter
- 2
a suffix appended to weak masculine nouns in all oblique cases of the singular, and to some mixed nouns in the singular dative and accusative
- 3
a suffix appended to most other nouns, the so-called “strong” nouns, in their plural dative
- 4
a suffix (in fact, the most common declensional ending) which is appended to determiners, adjectives, and participles, for multiple forms of all grammatical cases, both singular and plural
suffix
- 1
A suffix forming adjectives denoting being made from a certain substance or having a particular property
Gold (“gold”, noun) + -en → golden (“gold, golden”, adjective)
suffix
- 1
-ene (alkene suffix)
interfix
- 1
alternative form of -n-
Source: English Wiktionary, German section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How German dictionaries define it
suffix: 1. nachgestelltes Wortbildungselement, das Verben ableitet 2. Suffix der Grundform von Verben; Wortstamm +-enbildet die Grundform (den Infinitiv) 3. Konjugationsendung, Suffix bei Verben, das die 1. und 3. Person Plural anzeigt 4. sehr häufige Deklinationsendung bei Substantiven, Adjektiven, dem Artikel und Pronomina (besonders in der sogenannten schwachen Deklination)
suffix: 1. Alkenendung
abbreviation: 1. Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis 2. (Provinz) Enna 3. „Erlanger Nachrichten“ (eine Tageszeitung) 4. „EuroNight“ (Nachtreisezug)
prefix: 1. innen
noun: 1. sumerischer Herrschertitel
The definition in the German Wiktionary, in German.
Source: German Wiktionary, dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of -en
- haben auxiliary
- ge-t participle past
- ich -e indicative present singular
- wir -en indicative plural present
- du -st indicative present singular
- ihr -t indicative plural present
- du -est singular subjunctive subjunctive-i
- ihr -et plural subjunctive subjunctive-i
- er -t indicative present singular
- sie -en indicative plural present
- er -e singular subjunctive subjunctive-i
- ich -te indicative preterite singular
- wir -ten indicative plural preterite
- du -test indicative preterite singular
- ihr -tet indicative plural preterite
- er -te indicative preterite singular
- sie -ten indicative plural preterite
- ich habe ge-t indicative multiword-construction perfect
Source: English Wiktionary and German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce -en?
- /ən/
- [ən]
- [m̩]
Sources: English Wiktionary, German Wiktionary (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to -en
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is -en in German?
-en appears 72 times per million words in written German.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).