Plural of Words in -l

Plural of Words Ending in -l

Level 2

Longer words stressed on the last syllable and ending in -al, -el, -ol, -ul change -l to -is: animal → animais, papel → papeis, azul → azuis. One-syllable words add -es: sol → soles.

How It Works

More than one syllable, stressed final -l → -is:

  • -al → -ais: animal, animais; xornal, xornais
  • -el → -eis: papel, papeis; hotel, hoteis
  • -ol → -ois: español, españois; caracol, caracois
  • -ul → -uis: azul, azuis

No accent: the plural ends in a diphthong + s, so papeis and hoteis are written without an accent. See written accent rules.

One syllable → -es: sol, soles; mel, meles; mal, males; sal, sales; gol, goles. Compare the -es plural.

Stress on an earlier syllable → -es: túnel, túneles; cónsul, cónsules; fácil, fáciles. The only exception is the ending -bel, used in some words that also have a -ble form: amábel, amábeis.

Words in -il: a stressed final -il becomes -ís: civil, civís. See plural of words ending in -il.

Adjectives: the same rule applies to adjectives, which agree with their noun: os ollos azuis. See adjective agreement.

Examples (6)

  1. Gústanme moito os animais.

    I really like animals.

    Word by Word: Please-me much the animals.

    animal → animais: -l becomes -is.

  2. Deixei os papeis na mesa.

    I left the papers on the table.

    Word by Word: Left-I the papers on-the table.

    papel → papeis, with no written accent.

  3. Ten os ollos azuis.

    She has blue eyes.

    Word by Word: Has the eyes blue.

    The adjective azul follows the same rule: azuis.

  4. Hai dous hoteis preto da praia.

    There are two hotels near the beach.

    Word by Word: There-are two hotels near of-the beach.

  5. Viñeron moitos turistas españois.

    Many Spanish tourists came.

    Word by Word: Came many tourists Spanish.

    español → españois.

  6. Marcou dous goles no partido.

    He scored two goals in the match.

    Word by Word: Scored two goals in-the match.

    One-syllable gol adds -es: goles.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the Spanish plural in -les.

    Gústanme os animales.
    Gústanme os animais.

    Words stressed on a final -al drop the -l and add -is: animais.

  • Keeping the -l before -es in a word of more than one syllable.

    Deixei os papeles na mesa.
    Deixei os papeis na mesa.

    Papel is stressed on its last syllable, so its plural is papeis.

  • Forming azul like Spanish.

    Ten os ollos azules.
    Ten os ollos azuis.

    Azul follows the -is rule: azuis.

How It Connects

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

Plural of Words in -lLevel 2Plural of Words Ending in -l

Learn This First

Plurals of words in -l depend on their stress pattern.