The pattern
Most nouns with an unstressed -el, -em, -en or -er at the end, all diminutives and many loanwords take -s. After a single final a, i, o or u, or a y after a consonant, the -s becomes 's.
- Weak endings: de tafel, tafels; de bezem, bezems (brooms); de jongen, jongens; de kamer, kamers.
- Diminutives: het meisje, meisjes; het broodje, broodjes (bread rolls).
- Loanwords (borrowed words): de computer, computers; de film, films; het hotel, hotels.
- With 's: de auto, auto's; de taxi, taxi's; de baby, baby's.
- No apostrophe after a vowel combination: het cadeau, cadeaus (presents); het essay, essays.
Examples
| In de keuken staan twee tafels. | There are two tables in the kitchen. |
| De jongens fietsen naar school. | The boys cycle to school. |
| Fatima koopt zes broodjes. | Fatima buys six bread rolls. |
| Daan kijkt graag films. | Daan likes watching films. |
| Voor het huis staan drie auto's. | There are three cars in front of the house. |
| In de trein huilen twee baby's. | Two babies are crying on the train. |
| Sanne krijgt veel cadeaus. | Sanne gets a lot of presents. |
Why it works this way
Word stress (which part of a word you say loudest) helps explain the weak endings. De bel (doorbell) is one stressed beat and gets the usual ending from Plurals with -en: bellen. In tafel the last beat is already a soft "uh". A second soft beat would drag, so tafels just adds a quick -s. Many loanwords take -s even with stress at the end: hotels.
This is a strong tendency, not an iron law: a few nouns with a weak ending take -en, such as de engel, engelen (angel). Learn each noun with its plural, and find the real rebels in Irregular plurals.
Remember: the apostrophe is a small fence around a single vowel letter at the end, so nobody reads autos with a short o, as in bos. A vowel combination needs no fence: cadeaus.
Watch out
Falschdrie kameren
Richtigdrie kamers
weak last syllable, so just -s
Falschde autos
Richtigde auto's
the apostrophe keeps the o long
Falschtwee cadeau's
Richtigtwee cadeaus
no apostrophe after a vowel combination
Falschveel boeks
Richtigveel boeken
English habit: boek takes -en
Quick check
- Fill in the plural: Joris heeft twee ... . (sleutel)
- Choose: Mei bestelt twee (pizzas / pizza's / pizzaën).
- Fill in the plural: Carlos koopt vier ... . (broodje)
- Fix the sentence: Ahmed werkt met drie laptop's.
Antworten zeigen
- sleutels (unstressed -el)
- pizza's (single final a)
- broodjes (diminutives take -s)
- Ahmed werkt met drie laptops. (no apostrophe after a consonant)
Use it today
Write your next shopping list in Dutch with at least four s-plurals, such as zes broodjes, twee pizza's and vier appels. Say each item out loud in the supermarket.