The pattern
Some nouns have two plurals that usually differ in meaning; others have two plurals with the same meaning. A few nouns are normally used in the plural, and they take a plural verb.
- het blad: de bladeren are leaves (you may also hear blaren), de bladen are magazines, and trays in de dienbladen
- het been: de benen are legs, de beenderen are bones
- The singular does not tell you which meaning you have: een blad can be a leaf or a magazine. The plural usually does. The long forms are not used for magazines or legs, but the short forms bladen and benen sometimes also mean leaves and bones.
- Some nouns have two plurals with the same meaning, like zoons and zonen. Both are correct, so you cannot go wrong there.
- Normally plural: de kosten (costs), de hersenen (brain), de notulen (minutes of a meeting), de gegevens (personal details, data)
- de ouders (parents): you hear the plural far more often, but the singular is normal when you mean one parent, as in een alleenstaande ouder (a single parent).
- Plural noun, plural verb: De kosten zijn hoog. Group nouns like de familie work differently, see Group nouns and verb agreement.
Examples
| In de herfst liggen er overal bladeren op het fietspad. | In autumn there are leaves all over the cycle path. |
| Bij de kapper liggen altijd oude bladen op tafel. | At the hairdresser's there are always old magazines on the table. |
| Lotte had zo lang gefietst dat haar benen trilden. | Lotte had cycled for so long that her legs were shaking. |
| In het museum zie je de beenderen van een mammoet. | In the museum you can see the bones of a mammoth. |
| De kosten van de cursus zijn hoger dan Carlos dacht. | The cost of the course is higher than Carlos thought. |
| Als je slecht slaapt, werken je hersenen minder goed. | If you sleep badly, your brain works less well. |
| Fatima's ouders komen in juni uit Marokko op bezoek. | Fatima's parents are coming over from Morocco in June. |
| Wilt u controleren of uw gegevens nog kloppen? | Could you check whether your details are still correct? |
| Mei zoekt haar bril, maar die zit gewoon op haar hoofd. | Mei is looking for her glasses, but they're right there on her head. |
Why it works this way
Centuries ago, a group of het-words made their plural with -er, as German still does. Later, Dutch added -en on top, which is why you say kinderen, eieren and liederen (see Irregular plurals). Blad and been belonged to that group, and they also got an ordinary plural. Over time, the two plurals became linked to different meanings, although the split is not absolute. A handy way to see it: the long -eren form goes with the oldest meaning. Leaves came long before magazines, and been first meant bone (compare English bone).
In everyday speech, bones are usually botten these days: Daan heeft een bot gebroken. Beenderen sounds more formal, the word of museums and news reports.
Mostly plural nouns have no deep logic: each language decides for itself what counts as a collection. Dutch says de kosten zijn where English says the cost is, and je hersenen werken where English says your brain works. Informally you also hear hersens. De ouders is simply a very frequent plural: the singular de ouder is common whenever you mean one parent. English makes the opposite choice with trousers, scissors and glasses: de broek, de schaar and de bril are singular.
Remember: the long plural belongs on the forest floor. Fallen bladeren and old beenderen end up on the ground; bladen lie on the coffee table and benen get you to the station.
Watch out
FoutDe kosten is te hoog.
GoedDe kosten zijn te hoog.
kosten is plural, so the verb is plural too
FoutMijn hersenen werkt vandaag niet.
GoedMijn hersenen werken vandaag niet.
English says brain, Dutch counts it as plural
FoutIk lees graag bladeren over koken.
GoedIk lees graag bladen over koken.
magazines are bladen, bladeren grow on trees
FoutMijn broek zijn nat van de regen.
GoedMijn broek is nat van de regen.
one pair of trousers is one broek
FoutMijn beenen doen pijn.
GoedMijn benen doen pijn.
open syllable, so one e
Quick check
- Choose: In de wachtkamer van de huisarts liggen stapels oude (bladen / bladeren).
- Fill in the present tense of zijn: De kosten van onze verhuizing ... hoger dan we hadden gedacht.
- Choose: Na een lange fietstocht legt Emma thuis haar (benen / beenderen) omhoog op de bank.
- Fix the sentence: Mijn bril zijn weer zoek.
Toon de antwoorden
- bladen: these are magazines, and bladeren is not used for magazines.
- zijn: kosten is plural.
- benen: these are legs, and beenderen is not used for legs.
- Mijn bril is weer zoek. De bril is singular in Dutch, even though English says glasses.
Use it today
Next time you sit in a waiting room or on the train, describe what is lying around in one Dutch sentence, such as Er liggen bladen op tafel or, in autumn, Er liggen bladeren op het perron. Then pick one bill this week and say out loud what it costs, starting with De kosten zijn ....