Junge

See also: junge

German

Alternative forms

• Jung (colloquial, regional)

Etymology

Fixed nominalisation of Middle High German jung (“young”), from Old High German jung (“young”).

Already occasionally in Middle High German [Term?], later gaining a fixed noun form based on its weak nominative inflection (giving ein Junge instead of ein Junger). The recognition as the normal standard term for “boy” is based on Central and Low German usage and has only fully asserted itself during the 20th century (compare Knabe). The now quite common plural form Jungs (Jungens) is also from German Low German [Term?]. Cognate with English young (noun).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjʊŋə/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

Junge m (weak, genitive Jungen, plural Jungen or Jungs or Jungens, diminutive Jünglein n or Jüngelchen n or Jüngchen n or (rare, often poetic) Jüngelein n)

1. boy
2. (card games) jack

Usage notes

• The normal plural in writing is Jungen, although the colloquial Jungs is also sometimes seen. The third plural Jungens is not all too frequent and chiefly restricted to northern and (parts of) central Germany.
• Even with the irregular plurals (Jungs, Jungens) the singular declension is always weak (thus with -n in the oblique cases of the singular).

Declension

Declension of Junge [masculine, weak]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Junge	die	Jungen, Jungs1, Jungens1
genitive	eines	des	Jungen	der	Jungen, Jungs1, Jungens1
dative	einem	dem	Jungen	den	Jungen, Jungs1, Jungens1
accusative	einen	den	Jungen	die	Jungen, Jungs1, Jungens1

¹Colloquial.

Synonyms

• Bub, Bube m (southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria)
• Bursche m
• Knabe m

Antonyms

• (by gender) Mädchen n, Mädel n
• (by age) Mann m

Hyponyms

• Judenjunge
• Negerjunge
• Straßenjunge

Noun

Junge n

1. inflection of Junges:
   1. strong nominative/accusative plural
   2. weak nominative/accusative singular

Related terms

• jung
• Jüngling

Further reading

• “Junge” in Duden online
• “Junge” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

German Low German

Alternative forms

• Jung
• junge (uncommon)

Etymology

From jung (“young”), comparable to Dutch jongen.

Noun

Junge m

1. boy

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.