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Making nouns plural in Spanish is quite straightforward. Similar to English, many Spanish nouns form their plural by adding -s or -es to their singular form. Let’s take a look at the following examples:
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casa house - casas houses
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dolor pain - dolores pains
If you have some experience in language learning though, you might know there are some exceptions, but don’t worry. We’ll also cover these in this post, like the case of nouns that have two plural forms or those that don’t change form. Keep reading and you will become an expert in Spanish plural nouns!
Nouns that form their plural by adding -s
Let’s start from the start and explore the various cases:
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If a Spanish noun ends in a vowel, form the plural by adding -s:
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An exception to this rule is nouns ending in -í and -ú, both with an accent mark. Make sure you read our next article to find out about these exceptional endings. |
Nouns that form their plural by adding -es
We’ve just seen the cases of the plural of nouns that end in a vowel, but what happens if a noun ends in a consonant? For most of these cases, the plural is formed by adding -es. Let’s take a look at some examples:
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Nouns ending in -n, -r, -s, -l, -j, -d or -y:
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Words borrowed from another language and ending in -y have a different way to form their plural. In these cases, drop the -y and add -is. Look: el jersey → los jerséis el penalty → los penaltis |
Let’s see a few more cases of nouns that form their plural by adding -es.
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Some singular nouns in Spanish end in an accented vowel plus -n or -s. To make the plural, add -es and delete the accent mark:
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Some other singular nouns of two or more syllables end in -en. For these, an accent mark needs to be added in the plural form:
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For Spanish nouns ending in consonants other than -n, -r, -s, -l, -j, -d and -y, only add -s to make the plural. Look:
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There are a few nouns that end in -z. These require a small change in spelling to make the plural form: drop the -z, add -c and then -es:
So far we have learned the main rules to making plural nouns in Spanish. Let’s recap quickly:
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1. add -s for: singular nouns that end in a vowel (except í and ú) singular nouns that end in consonants other than -n, -r, -s, -l, -j, -d, -y 2. add -es for: singular nouns that end in consonants -n, -r, -s, -l, -j, -d, -y, accented vowel + -n or -s, and -en singular nouns that end in -z. |
If you’ve read this far, and want to continue, prepare to learn all about special cases in our next article.
Summary
To sum up, making plural nouns in Spanish is pretty straightforward. Based on the noun ending in its singular form, all you need to do is add the right ending. Let’s recap the main points:
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If a noun ends in a vowel, simply add -s to form the plural.
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If a noun ends in a consonant, add -es for most cases.
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If a noun ends in -z, drop the -z and add -ces.
If you’re looking for an exercise to practice, we have created this simple activity where you can use what you’ve just learned. There is also a second exercise on singular and plural nouns in Spanish. Both exercises include an answer key for you to check your work.
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