The German suffix -chen is a diminutive. It can be added to many nouns. In many cases the noun has an umlaut when the suffix is added. The gender of nouns with the diminutive suffix is always neuter. Here are examples:
der Baum (the tree) das Bäumchen (the little tree)
das Brot (the bread) das Brötchen (the bread roll)
das Haus (the house) das Häuschen (the little house)
der Hund (the dog) das Hündchen (the little dog)
die Maus (the mouse) das Mäuschen (the little mouse)
das Schiff (the ship) das Schiffchen (the little ship)
die Tasse (the cup) die Tässchen (the little cup)
das Tier (the animal) das Tierchen (the little animal)
der Tisch (the table) das Tischchen (the little table)
das Wort (the word) das Wörtchen (the little word)
As the examples show, the diminutive suffix -chen is very productive in German. Many suffixed nouns are modified with an umlaut. The diminutive is invariable in singular and plural. Schiffchen means both little ship and little ships.
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