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I have only studied German for a few weeks. In the back of the textbuch is a list of words. It says:

die Sü­ße -n

Example:

– Wie lang bleiben wir noch, Heinz?

– Nur noch eine Stunde, Sü­ße!

But when I check the plural of the noun in Duden, it appears that it does not exist.

Have you as German native speakers run into this word in plural?

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Eva
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  • I changed the example, because the answer did not fit to the question. Was it a joke? – Iris Oct 02 '16 at 16:43
  • For each text there are words to be learned. die Sü­ße was part of the dialogue between those two persons. I supposed it is meant to be a joke. Thanks for the help. I appreciate it a lot! – Eva Oct 02 '16 at 16:52

2 Answers2

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Duden and DWDS do not list "term of endearment" as meaning of "Süße", only sweetness and being sweet. The plural is "die Süßen" is "die Süßen".

Die Süße von Honig unterscheidet sich von der Süße von Marmelade. Ihre Süßen sind unterschiedlich.

"Die Süße" as term of endearment is a nominalisation of the adjective "süß" (Thanks @deponensvogel).

The female form is "die Süße" as in "die süße Frau", the male form is "der Süße” as in "der süße Mann". With indefinite articles, the forms are "eine Süße" ("eine süße Frau") and "ein Süßer" ("ein süßer Mann").

Die Süße, da hinten an der Bar, ist echt schnucklig./ Der Süße, da hinten an der Bar, ist echt schnucklig.

Hallo, Süße! / Hallo, Süßer!

The plural here, too, is "die Süßen" (cf. Wiktionary) as in "die süßen Frauen/Männer/Menschen". There is no indefinite article in plural, so then, it is just "Süße" ("(viele) süße Menschen").

Die Süßen, da hinten an der Bar, sind echt schnucklig.

If you address a person, in singular the indefinite form is used, but in plural “Hallo, Süße” sounds wrong. So instead, you would say:

Hallo, ihr Süßen!

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Iris
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  • Perhaps the authors of the textbuch I use should have added a "-r" instead of an "-n" considering the meaning of the word. – Eva Oct 02 '16 at 15:48
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    I would argue that Süße (in the sense of sweetness) as a technical term can have a plural. Die Süße eines Tokajers und die Süße einer Trockenbeerenaulese sind völlig verschieden, es handelt sich um unterschiedliche Süßen. – Ingmar Oct 02 '16 at 17:13
  • @Ingmar, stimmt,zumindest klingt dein Beispielsatz richtig. – Iris Oct 02 '16 at 17:26
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    Die Behauptung, der Plural würde selten verwendet, würde ich streichen. – Hubert Schölnast Oct 03 '16 at 17:36
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    ›Der Süße‹ isn't a short form but a nominalisation. – deponensvogel Oct 03 '16 at 20:37
  • Spätestens wenn man problematisieren will, dass es keine unterschiedlichen Süßen gibt, sondern die Süße von Honig mit der von Rohrzucker oder Zuckerrüben identisch ist, selbst der Süße, die angeblich im Tod fürs Vaterland liegt, benötigt man die Mehrzahl. – user unknown Oct 05 '16 at 08:18
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The two distinct meanings of Süße — sweetness and cutie — have been formed grammatically differently from their common root süß (the adjective) and thus function differently. However, both have plural forms.

Süße meaning sweetness is a nominalisation formed with the -e suffix. If possible, there would have been an stem vowel umlaut, as can be seen with Größe and Länge that were formed similarly. Typically, these forms indicate a quantifier. If you are just talking about a single object, these quantifiers cannot be pluralised, but upon comparing the quantifier of different object, pluralisation makes sense. Hence, die Süßen (plural of sweetness) is rare but possible.

Milchschokolade und Eiswein schmecken ganz anders. Ihre Süßen lassen sich überhaupt nicht vergleichen.

When Süße is used to mean cutie, i.e. as a term of endearment, it is actually only an adjective that assumes the syntactic role of a noun in the latter’s absence. Thus, it still declines as if there were a noun following it and even assumes that invisible noun’s gender. Depending on whether a definite article is preceeding or not, strong or weak declension must be observed.

However, due to the overlap with the other full noun (sweetness) not all forms sound idiomatic. While technically forms could be used for all numbers, genders and cases some just sound wrong without some other quantifier. Compare the following examples:

Ein Süßer steht an der Bar.
Eine Süße steht an der Bar.
Ein Süßes steht an der Bar. (Slightly weird; probably sounds like a child standing there. But could technically also be used for ‘sex unclear’.)
Der Süße hat sich einen Cocktail bestellt.
Die Süße hat sich ein Cocktail bestellt.
Das Süße hat sich einen Cocktail bestellt. (See above)

Hier steht der Drink einer Süßen.
Ich bringe einer Süßen ihren Cocktail.
Ich spreche eine Süße an.
Hier steht der Drink der Süßen.
Ich bringe der Süßen ihren Cocktail.
Ich spreche die Süße an.

(Mehrere) Süße stehen an der Bar. (Sounds weird without mehrere.)
Die Süßen bestellen sich Cocktails.

Since this construction is ‘only an adjective’, many dictionaries will not list it separately.

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Jan
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    ›Ein Süßes‹ is an invalid phrase because it has never been used naturally in German language. – deponensvogel Oct 03 '16 at 20:41
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    @deponensvogel Replace the here implied meaning of somebody standing at the bar and check out this: ‘Ich hab viele Fotos geschossen. Das ist ein Süßes.’ Or: ‘Ich habe viele Fotos geschossen. Ein Süßes wird im Wettbewerb eingereicht.’ – Jan Oct 03 '16 at 21:07
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    Since this is an adjective, however, you would not capitalize it: ‘Ich hab viele Fotos geschossen. Das ist ein süßes.' – Ingmar Oct 04 '16 at 11:28
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    Zwar würde ich behaupten, dass nicht die Süßen von Eiswein und Milchschokolade unterschiedlich sind, sondern die Begleitaromen, aber selbst für die Negation benötige ich natürlich die Mehrzahl. – user unknown Oct 05 '16 at 08:22
  • @Ingmar: Native adjectives are both. However, only adjectives used as nouns get capitalized, which is not the case with Jan's examples. – deponensvogel Oct 08 '16 at 15:52
  • @deponensvogel Feel free to provide a better one. – Jan Oct 09 '16 at 19:12
  • @Jan That's why I say it's an invalid phrase. There is no historical evidence it has ever been used. – deponensvogel Oct 10 '16 at 15:37
  • @deponensvogel It is clearly not an invalid phrase as the sentences make sense and are understood etc. Capitalisation of Süßes in this context is also not wrong to the best of my knowledge. We can discuss idiomaticity. I’m sure that there are much more idiomatic examples out there, though. – Jan Oct 11 '16 at 19:17
  • The capitalization of Süßes in which of your examples? The one in the comments section is definitely wrong by orthographic means but has probably already been said by some German speaker. The example in your answer is spelled correctly but is invalid as I've said. I'm saying this from the point of view of historical linguistics. Linguistics is a natural science and therefore can only investigate sentences that are historical. Plus: Don't confuse sex and grammatical gender. A neuter does not have to be an inanimate object or a sex unclear thing. – deponensvogel Oct 11 '16 at 19:36
  • @deponensvogel Don’t know where a child is an inanimate object. The example in the answer is specificly chosen in spite of its rarity to exemplify that all genders are possible. §58(1) only kicks in if the corresponding context has been established; if I remove the first sentence from my comment example, the capitalisation is unquestionably correct. – Jan Oct 11 '16 at 19:45
  • @Jan But then the sentence would make no sense. Whatever, I've already told you what I think about it. – deponensvogel Oct 12 '16 at 20:06