Making words plural in Dutch is usually straightforward.  I’m a stickler for grammar rules and straightforward makes me a little happier. Here are some rules for turning one cookie into two cookies, or one euro into 100 euros.

The rules for making a word plural are this simple: just add -en, -s, or -es to the end of a word.  But of course, you would love to know when to add -en, -s, or -es. Here are some rules to follow and keep an eye out for how the other letters in the word change in order to keep the vowel sounds short or long.

1. The basic way to make a plural in Dutch is to add -en. So….

de boom : de bomen [the tree(s)]

de man : de mannen [the man / the men]

de taal : de talen [the language(s)]

de kat : de katten [the cat(s)]

het spel : de spellen [the game(s)]

2. When to add -s:

If the word ends in an unstressed -el, -en, or -er…add -s.  In the following examples, the underlined sections represent the syllable where the stress falls when you say the word out loud.

de winkel : de winkels [the shop(s)]

de tafel : de tafels [the table(s)]

de vogel : vogels [the bird(s)]

het leger : de legers [the army / the armies)

3. When to add an apostrophe + -s:

If a word ends in a vowel, add an apostrophe +-s.

de radio = de radio‘s [the radio(s)]

de auto = de auto‘s [the car(s)]

de taxi = de taxi‘s [the taxi(s)]

de video = de video‘s [the video(s)]

And wouldn’t it be nice if these rules worked all the time? But of course, there are exceptions. Here are a few examples of common words that break the rules.

de stad : de steden  [the city / the cities]

het kind : de kinderen  [the child / the childeren]

het ei : de eieren  [the egg(s)]

het lid : de leden  [the member(s)]

de weg : de wegen  [the road(s)]