Irregular Plurals

Level 2

Vowel change: skip → skepe, stad → stede, lid → lede · extra i sound: pad → paaie, blad → blaaie · extra consonant: hemp → hemde, nag → nagte, gees → geeste

How It Works

The vowel changes
A short i or a becomes a long e:

  • skip → skepe (ships)
  • stad → stede (cities)
  • lid → lede (members)
  • smid → smede (blacksmiths)

In some other nouns a short vowel becomes long without changing its letter: gat → gate (holes), glas → glase (glasses).

An i sound is added
pad → paaie (roads) and blad → blaaie (pages): the d disappears and an i sound is added before the -e.

A consonant is added

  • nag → nagte (nights). Compare dag → dae.
  • gees → geeste (spirits, minds)
  • hemp → hemde (shirts)
  • graf → grafte (graves)

Other frequent surprises
bed → beddens (beds), and the -ers plurals such as kind → kinders.

After numbers
These nouns take the plural after a number like any other noun: drie skepe, twee nagte. Many units of time, money and measurement stay singular, such as twee jaar, drie uur and tien rand. See Measure Words After Numbers.

Examples (6)

  1. Die skepe lê in die hawe.

    The ships are lying in the harbor.

    Word by Word: The ships lie in the harbor.

  2. Ons het al baie groot stede besoek.

    We have already visited many big cities.

    Word by Word: We have already many big cities visited.

  3. Al die lede van die klub was daar.

    All the members of the club were there.

    Word by Word: All the members of the club were there.

  4. Die paaie is nat na die reën.

    The roads are wet after the rain.

    Word by Word: The roads are wet after the rain.

  5. Hy het drie nuwe hemde gekoop.

    He bought three new shirts.

    Word by Word: He has three new shirts bought.

  6. Ons het drie nagte in Kaapstad gebly.

    We stayed three nights in Cape Town.

    Word by Word: We have three nights in Cape Town stayed.

    Nag adds t in the plural, unlike dag, which becomes dae.

Common Mistakes

  • Applying the regular doubling rule to skip.

    Die skippe lê in die hawe.
    Die skepe lê in die hawe.

    Skip changes its vowel in the plural: skepe.

  • Making a regular plural of pad.

    Die padde is nat.
    Die paaie is nat.

    The plural of pad is paaie.

  • Dropping the g of nag, as in dae.

    Ons het drie nage daar gebly.
    Ons het drie nagte daar gebly.

    Nag does not follow dag. Its plural adds t: nagte.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Irregular PluralsLevel 2

Learn This First

Irregular plurals change vowels or add sounds, going further than the regular changes.

Words in This Pattern

stadhempnag