Dutch Language Blog
Menu
Search

Dutch Plurals Posted by on Jun 18, 2009 in Dutch Language

A lot of Dutch words in the plural have an -en ending. This is the regular plural ending. Ex: woord (s) = woorden (p). Meaning : word/words

There are some Dutch words undergo a change in spelling in the plural:

In this example, a double consonant occurs in the plural after a short vowel in the singular. Ex: fles (s) = flessen (p). Meaning : bottle/bottles

An open syllable in the singular turns into a single vowel in the plural. Ex: fotograaf (s) = fotografen (p). Meaning : photographer/photographers

An s in the singular turns into a “z” in the plural. Ex: prijs (s) = prijzen (p). Meaning : price/prices

An f in the singular turns into a “v” in the plural. Ex: brief (s) = brieven (p). Meaning : letter/letters

There are also irregular plurals where a short vowel in the singular becomes a long vowel in the plural. Ex: oorlog (s) = oorlogen (p). Meaning : war/wars

There are also irregularities in spelling within the irregular plurals. Ex: stad (s) = steden (p). Meaning : city/cities

A minority of plurals have an -eren ending. Ex: ei (s) = eieren (p). Meaning : egg/eggs

Just be careful with plurals that are spelled the same in the singular but different in the plural. Ex: been (s) = beenderen (p). Meaning: bone/bones. However been (s) = benen (p). Meaning: leg/legs

You’ll see that a lot of Dutch plurals end in -s:

Words ending in unstressed -el, -em, -en, -er, -aar, -erd, -e wil often end in -s. Ex: tante (s) = tantes (p). Meaning : aunt/aunts

A lot of Dutch diminutives end in -s. Ex: meisje (s) = meisjes (p). Meaning : girl/girls.

Vowels a, i, o, u, y will have apostrophe s in the plural. Ex: baby (s) = baby’s (p). Meaning : baby/babies

There are some words that derive from Latin origins and end in -i or -a in the plural: catalogus (s) = catalogi (p). Meaning : catalogs.

Words that end in -heid in the singular end in -heden in the plural. Ex: gelegenheid (s) = gelegenheden (p). Meaning : opportunity/opportunities

 

 

 

 

Tags:
Keep learning Dutch with us!

Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Try it Free Find it at your Library
Share this:
Pin it

About the Author: Transparent Language

Transparent Language is a leading provider of best-practice language learning software for consumers, government agencies, educational institutions, and businesses. We want everyone to love learning language as much as we do, so we provide a large offering of free resources and social media communities to help you do just that!