Where should I look for the plural of a word?

Question

I was looking for the plural of Heft (and still). My small Collins English/German/English doesn't have it. Where should I look for the plural of a German word?

Have you looked at this answer and tried a few? My favourite is DWDS, but your mileage may vary.... — guidot, Jan 21 '21 at 20:10
Does this answer your question? Resources for learning German — Shegit Brahm, Jan 22 '21 at 07:21
@ShegitBrahm: I had already referred the dictionaries answer to that question. — guidot, Jan 22 '21 at 09:18

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 21 '21 at 19:21

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Try: https://www.duden.de https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Heft_Schrift_Broschur

Duden is the standard dictionary in germany and it has also a good website with nearly every German word.

answered Jan 21 '21 at 19:21

droebi

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Well, it is true that the Duden dictionaries in book format are, or better: used to be, a standard reference in Germany. But the website Duden Online is certainly not. It often proves to be incomplete, imprecise, occasionally just plain wrong. Much better alternatives are Wiktionary (de.wiktionary.org) and, currently the most comprehensive dictionary, the Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (dwds.de). – Björn Friedrich Jan 21 '21 at 20:13
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@Björn Friedrich: I'd add that online Duden has so much spam that it nearly breaks my browser, so given that there are free and ad-free alternatives it's hard to see why it's not a last resort. Also, don't discount English Wiktionary; I don't know if its German coverage is as complete as the German version, but it has 99% of the words you might commonly encounter. – RDBury Jan 22 '21 at 02:44

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 21 '21 at 23:25

One of the best resources for inflection of any German word is Wiktionary. For example here is the page for Heft in Wiktionary.

You can see, that there are two entries for two different nouns:

Heft = booklet, notebook
Heft = haft, handle

and for each of these words there is a full table with all inflected forms, which in the case of Heft is equal for both words.

If you search for a verb, like gehen, you will find only the most important inflections on the main page, but each verb has a separate page where all possible inflections are listed.

Also all adjective have a main page (for example schön) and an extra page for all possible inflections.

So, if you are searching for any inflection of any German word, you will find it on Wiktionary.

Where should I look for the plural of a word?

2 Answers2