Dutch Plurals

In order to talk about more than one of the same thing, we need to learn how to make plurals in Dutch. This article will guide you through making plurals in Dutch and provide clear examples to help you use them correctly.

Adding -en

The vast majority of nouns can be made plural by adding -en to the singular noun:

When the final syllable contains a double vowel (an open sound), take away one vowel to maintain the sound:

When the final syllable contains a single vowel before the consonant (a closed sound), add an extra consonant:

Finally, like with verbs, soft vowels are replaced by sharp vowels (v to f) and (z to s):

Adding –‘s or -s

Another common way plural nouns are made is by adding an -s:

There are no specific rules around whether a plural is made by adding either -en or -s, but we can take a look at a couple of very common examples.

When a word ends in an -e we usually add an -s:

When a word ends in a different vowel we usually add –‘s:

Less common plural forms

There are more different ways to make a plural noun but usually these are a lot less common. Here are the most common ones.

Some plurals are made by adding -eren:

Words that are derived from Latin (ending in –um) are usually made by changing the ending to an -a:

Finally, some plurals are completely irregular:

Exercise