Today we’re going to continue our lesson about plural nouns in Portuguese. We’re going to take a look at some of the irregular nouns.

When a noun ends in “ão,” there are different rules for how to make it plural, and it is simply a matter of memorization to remember which nouns have which rule.

1. ão to ãos
irmão –> irmãos  [brother -> brothers]
mão –> mãos  [hand -> hands]

2. ão to ães
cão –> cães  [dog -> dogs]
pão –> pães  [bread -> bread (plural)]
alemão –> alemães [German –> Germans]

3. ão to ões
organização –> organizações  [organization -> organizations]
gavião –> gaviões  [hawk -> hawks]
avião –> aviões  [airplane -> airplanes]

Also, nouns that end with “em” change to ens.

nuvem –> nuvens  [cloud -> clouds]
bem –> bens  [good -> goods]
trem –> trens  [train -> trains]