-j

Plural Nouns

Level 1

One ending makes every plural.

How It Works

To say more than one, add -j after the -o of the noun. The root does not change, and there are no irregular plurals.

OneMore than one
libro (book)libroj (books)
kato (cat)katoj (cats)
domo (house)domoj (houses)
urbo (city)urboj (cities)

A noun after a number above one takes -j: du katoj. When a noun is also the object, the -n goes after the -j: katojn. The lack of -j shows one, and its presence shows more than one. The oj sounds like oy in boy.

Examples (4)

  1. Ewa havas du katojn.

    Ewa has two cats.

    Katojn has -j for the plural and -n for the object.

  2. Wei havas amikojn en Pekino.

    Wei has friends in Beijing.

    Amikojn is the plural of amiko, with -n after -j.

  3. Kofi ŝatas librojn.

    Kofi likes books.

    Libroj is the plural of libro.

  4. Domoj kaj urboj estas grandaj.

    Houses and cities are big.

    Domoj and urboj are plural; the adjective copies the -j.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving -j off a noun after a number.

    Tri kato dormas.
    Tri katoj dormas.

    A number above one means more than one, so the noun needs -j.

How It Connects

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

-jLevel 1Plural Nouns

Learn This First

The plural is made by adding -j to a noun.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.