---
title: "Irregular plurals"
level: A2
chapter: "Nouns and de or het"
canonical: https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar/irregular-plurals
updated: 2026-10-08
author: Dutch Fluency
license: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
---

# Irregular plurals

Most Dutch nouns form the plural (the form for more than one) with _-en_ or _-s_, but a small group of everyday words does its own thing: _stad_ becomes _steden_, _kind_ becomes _kinderen_ and _koe_ becomes _koeien_. No rule predicts most of these, so learn each one as a pair: singular (one) and plural together. The good news is that the list is short, and you will use most of these words every week.

## The pattern

> A few common nouns have an irregular plural: one that does not follow the usual _-en_ or _-s_ rules. Learn the singular and plural as one pair.

- Vowel change: _stad, steden_ (city); _schip, schepen_ (ship); _lid, leden_ (member). The short a or i becomes a long e.
- Extra _-eren_: _kind, kinderen_ (child); _ei, eieren_ (egg); _lied, liederen_ (song).
- A one-off: _koe, koeien_ (cow).
- Words ending in _-heid_ get _-heden_: _mogelijkheid, mogelijkheden_ (possibility).
- Some Latin loanwords (words borrowed from Latin) have two plurals: _museum_ gives _musea_ or _museums_, _centrum_ gives _centra_ or _centrums_.
- As with every plural, the article is _de_: _het kind_, _de kinderen_.

## Examples

| Amsterdam en Rotterdam zijn grote **steden**. | Amsterdam and Rotterdam are big cities. |
| In de haven liggen twee **schepen**. | There are two ships in the harbour. |
| Sanne en Daan zijn **leden** van de tennisclub. | Sanne and Daan are members of the tennis club. |
| Fatima heeft drie **kinderen**. | Fatima has three children. |
| Ik heb in de supermarkt zes **eieren** gekocht. | I bought six eggs at the supermarket. |
| Naast het fietspad staan veel **koeien**. | There are lots of cows next to the cycle path. |
| Joris heeft twee **mogelijkheden**: de trein of de bus. | Joris has two options: the train or the bus. |
| Priya heeft dit weekend twee **musea** bezocht. | Priya visited two museums this weekend. |
| Den Haag heeft veel **museums**. | The Hague has lots of museums. |

## Why it works this way

These are old words that people have used every day for centuries, and words used that often resist change. Over time, Dutch moved most nouns over to the regular [plurals with _-en_](https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar/plural-en) and _-s_, but the most frequent ones kept their old forms. English did the same: you say men and feet, not mans and foots.

The vowel change comes from an old sound shift: when a syllable was added, a short vowel often became long. Usually you only hear this. _Dag_ has a short a, but _dagen_ has a long one, just like _bad, baden_. In _schip_ and _lid_ the vowel also changed colour, so you see it in the spelling too. The lesson on [open and closed syllables](https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar/open-closed-syllables) explains why _dagen_ needs only one a.

The _-eren_ words are double plurals. Long ago _kinder_ already meant children, and later speakers added _-en_ on top. Handy detail: the common _-eren_ words are all het-words in the singular: _het kind_, _het ei_, _het lied_.

Remember: _kinderen_ and children are twins. Both are an old plural with a second plural stuck on top: child, childer, children, and _kind_, _kinder_, _kinderen_.

The _-heid_ group is the one real rule in this lesson: every countable _-heid_ word gets _-heden_, such as _gelegenheid, gelegenheden_ (occasion). Words like _gezondheid_ (health) simply have no plural.

Latin already had the plural _musea_, and Dutch kept it next to the regular _museums_. Both are correct and you will hear both. The lesson on [nouns with two plurals](https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar/two-plurals) has more of these.

## Watch out

- Not: _twee stadden_ Say: _twee steden_ (the vowel changes, and the d is not doubled)
- Not: _drie kinder_ Say: _drie kinderen_ (Dutch adds _-en_ to the old _-er_, unlike German)
- Not: _veel koes_ Say: _veel koeien_ (no English-style _-s_ here)
- Not: _twee mogelijkheiden_ Say: _twee mogelijkheden_ (_-heid_ always becomes _-heden_)
- Not: _zes eien_ Say: _zes eieren_ (_ei_ takes _-eren_, just like _kind_)

## Quick check

1. Fill in the plural of _stad_: _Utrecht en Leiden zijn mooie oude (...)._
2. Choose: _Mijn buren hebben vier (kinds / kinderen / kinden)._
3. Fix the sentence: _Er zijn veel mogelijkheiden._
4. Fill in the plural of _koe_: _Op de boerderij van Bas staan twintig (...)._

## Answers

1. _steden_ (vowel change, no doubled d)
2. _kinderen_ (_kind_ takes _-eren_)
3. _Er zijn veel mogelijkheden._ (_-heid_ becomes _-heden_)
4. _koeien_ (a one-off to learn by heart)

## Use it today

Next time you do your shopping or take the train, name what you see in the plural, out loud or in your head: _eieren_ in the supermarket, _koeien_ from the train window, _kinderen_ on their bikes. Saying the pair, _kind, kinderen_, a few times a day is how these forms start to feel normal.

## Questions learners ask

**What is the plural of kind in Dutch?**

The plural of kind (child) is kinderen, and the article changes to de: het kind, de kinderen. Ei (egg) works the same way and becomes eieren.

**Is it musea or museums in Dutch?**

Both are correct. Museum is a Latin loanword that kept its Latin plural musea, and Dutch also uses the regular form museums.

**Why is the plural of stad steden in Dutch?**

Stad is one of a few short, old words whose vowel changes in the plural, like schip and schepen and lid and leden. No simple rule predicts this, so learn the singular and plural together.

From the Dutch Fluency Grammar: https://www.dutchfluency.com/grammar. Shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.