Meervoud — -en, -s, and irregular plurals
Exam relevant: This topic is covered in the Inburgeringsexamen. You're building the foundation now — A2 is the target level.
Most Dutch nouns form the plural by adding -en or -s. There are also some irregular plurals. All plurals take the article de (never het).
| Rule | Singular | Plural | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| +en (standard) | huis | huizen | spelling change: s→z before -en |
| +en (standard) | brief | brieven | spelling change: f→v before -en |
| +en (standard) | dag | dagen | vowel lengthened: dag → da-gen |
| +en (standard) | no change needed | ||
| +s (unstressed ending) | collega | collega's | ends in vowel → add 's |
| +s (unstressed ending) | leraar | leraren | exception: -aar → -aren |
| irregular | kind | kinderen | common irregular |
| irregular | ei | eieren | common irregular |
All plurals take de as the article: het huis → de huizen; het kind → de kinderen.
Er zijn drie kamers in ons huis.
There are three rooms in our house.
kamer → kamers (-s ending, unstressed -er)
De kinderen spelen buiten.
The children are playing outside.
kind → kinderen (irregular)
Mijn collega's werken hard.
My colleagues work hard.
collega → collega's (ends in vowel)
De brieven liggen op het bureau.
The letters are on the desk.
brief → brieven (f→v)
Hoeveel huizen zijn er in de straat?
How many houses are on the street?
huis → huizen (s→z)
| Singular | Plural | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| kind | kinderen | child → children |
| ei | eieren | egg → eggs |
| lid | leden | member → members |
| gelid | gelederen | rank → ranks |
| been | benen / beenderen | leg/bone → legs/bones |
huis uses het in singular; the plural is de huizen (s→z spelling change).
Words ending in a vowel take 's (with apostrophe) to prevent mispronunciation.
Long vowel (aa) with single n: in the plural only one n is written — manen.