All 90 topics

A1 · Nouns and articles

The plural in -en and -s

the plural

Topic 28 of 90 · about 9 minutes

Your goal

You can form plurals with -en and -s, as in boeken and foto’s, and apply the spelling rules that go with them.

De foto's zijn mooi.The photos are lovely.

Daan heeft drie zussen.Daan has three sisters.

De tafels en de stoelen zijn nieuw.The tables and the chairs are new.

Done at 8 of 10 · about 4 min

Explainer video

Watch first – then practise

The essentials

RememberMostly -en, after an unstressed ending -s, after a vowel ’s.

Mostly -en, after an unstressed ending -s, after a vowel ’s.

Signal words: -en
-s
’s
de

The form

From the base form to the new form

Each row first says what the form expresses, then shows it in Dutch: the base form before the arrow, the result after it.

most words: -en	boek → boeken, stoel → stoelen
unstressed -el, -em, -en, -er: -s	tafel → tafels, kamer → kamers
diminutive: -s	meisje → meisjes
after a, i, o, u, y: ’s	auto → auto’s, foto → foto’s
after -e: mostly -s	tante → tantes
the spelling adjusts	kat → katten, maan → manen, huis → huizen

The rules one by one

The form this topic is about

Most nouns take -en.
Ik lees twee boeken per maand.I read two books a month.
After unstressed -el, -em, -en, -er comes -s.
We hebben vier kamers.We have four rooms.
Diminutives take -s.
De meisjes spelen buiten.The girls are playing outside.

More rules (2)

After a, i, o, u, y comes ’s.
Mijn oma's wonen in Gent.My grandmothers live in Ghent.
After a short vowel the consonant is doubled.
De katten slapen op de bank.The cats are sleeping on the sofa.

Example sentences

6 more example sentences

In de garage staan twee auto's.There are two cars in the garage.

Waar zijn de kopjes?Where are the cups?

De huizen in deze straat zijn oud.The houses in this street are old.

Mijn ouders wonen in Zwolle.My parents live in Zwolle.

De bussen rijden vandaag niet.The buses aren’t running today.

Er zijn twee baby's in de familie.There are two babies in the family.

The trap English speakers fall into

Watch out

English writes “cars” and “photos” without an apostrophe (and a misplaced apostrophe in a plural is a well-known English error), so it is easy to leave it out in Dutch too. Here it is compulsory: without it the o would stand in a closed syllable and be read short.

Wrong:Ik heb twee autos.

Right:Ik heb twee auto's.

Lesson

The full explanation

Read it all · about 1 min

English has “-s” as its main plural, and a few oddities such as “children”. Dutch has two main endings: -en and -s. Most nouns take -en: boek → boeken, stoel → stoelen, dag → dagen. Regular plurals only add an ending; the vowel does not change as in “goose – geese”. The article in the plural is always de.

-s is taken by words that end in an unstressed syllable with -el, -em, -en or -er (tafel → tafels, jongen → jongens, kamer → kamers), by all diminutives (meisje → meisjes) and by most words in -e (tante → tantes). If a word ends in a, i, o, u or y, an apostrophe stands before the s: auto’s, foto’s, menu’s, baby’s. It shows that the vowel stays long — autos would be read with a short o.

With -en the spelling adjusts: a short vowel doubles the consonant after it (kat → katten, zus → zussen), a long vowel loses one letter (maan → manen), and s and f often become z and v (huis → huizen, brief → brieven). The rules for this are in the section on pronunciation and spelling.

A closer look

Why -s after an unstressed syllable

Dutch likes the alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables. boek + -en gives BOE-ken: stressed, unstressed. tafel + -en would give TA-fe-len with two unstressed syllables in a row — so the word takes the shorter -s: TA-fels. If you listen for the rhythm you usually hit the right ending without a rule.

Exceptions and special cases2

Exception
When a word in -e or -el allows both endings
then you can choose: groenten or groentes, appels or appelen.
We kopen appels en groenten.We are buying apples and vegetables.
Why? The spelling rules allow two forms here; which is more frequent varies from word to word.
Exception
When a word ends in a stressed -ee or -ie
then it takes -ën with a diaeresis: zee → zeeën, idee → ideeën, knie → knieën.
Ik heb twee ideeën.I have two ideas.
Why? The diaeresis shows that a new syllable begins here and a long ee does not simply continue.

Worth knowing2

Worth knowing
twee euro, drie jaar: measures in the singular
Unlike English (“two euros”, “three kilos”), measures and money mostly stay singular after a number: twee euro, drie kilo, vijf jaar. With minuten, dagen, weken and maanden, on the other hand, the plural stands.
Het kost twee euro.It costs two euros.
Worth knowing
No vowel change
English changes the vowel in some plurals: “foot – feet”, “mouse – mice”. Regular Dutch plurals do not; the ending alone makes the plural: huis → huizen, appel → appels.
Ik eet twee appels.I am eating two apples.

The verbs on this page, in every form: hebben · staan · wonen · lezen · kopen · slapen · spelen · boeken