Plural With -s
Add -s to make the plural of a word that ends in a vowel or in -n: casa → casas, café → cafés, can → cans, camión → camións.
How It Works
Words ending in a vowel. Add -s, whether the last vowel is stressed or not: mesa → mesas, libro → libros, irmá → irmás (sisters), café → cafés, sofá → sofás.
Words ending in a diphthong. Add -s: rei → reis (kings), lei → leis (laws), pai → pais (fathers, or parents).
Words ending in -n. Add -s as well: can → cans (dogs), man → mans (hands), irmán → irmáns (brothers), camión → camións, canción → cancións (songs). This is one of the clearest differences from Spanish, which adds -es.
Accents stay. Adding -s does not move the stress, so a written accent stays: camión → camións, irmá → irmás. See Written Accent Rules.
Other endings. Words in -r, -z and stressed -s add -es (Plural With -es); words in -l follow their own rule (Plural of Words Ending in -l); and words in unstressed -s, such as o lapis and o martes, do not change (Nouns With the Same Singular and Plural).
The article and adjectives take the plural too: as casas brancas (the white houses).
Examples (6)
- Teño dous cans.
I have two dogs.
Can ends in -n, so it simply adds -s.
- Hai tres camións na rúa.
There are three trucks in the street.
Camión → camións; the accent stays on the o.
- Queremos catro cafés, por favor.
We would like four coffees, please.
A word ending in a stressed vowel also adds -s.
- As mesas son novas.
The tables are new.
Noun, article and adjective all take -s.
- Os meus irmáns viven en Ourense.
My brothers live in Ourense.
Irmán → irmáns.
- Os reis chegan mañá.
The kings arrive tomorrow.
Rei ends in a diphthong, so it adds -s.
Common Mistakes
Adding the Spanish -es to words ending in -n.
Hai tres camiones na rúa.Hai tres camións na rúa.Galician words in -n add only -s: camión → camións.
Writing the Spanish plural of words in -ción.
Sei moitas canciones galegas.Sei moitas cancións galegas.Canción → cancións, with -s and the accent kept.
How It Connects
Related Patterns
- Plural With -es
Words ending in -r, -z and stressed -s add -es instead.
Level 1 - Plural of Words in -lPlural of Words Ending in -l
Words ending in -l have their own plural pattern.
Level 2 - Nouns With the Same Singular and Plural
Words ending in unstressed -s do not change in the plural.
Level 3 - Adjective Agreement
Adjectives take the plural of the noun they describe.
Level 1 - Written Accent Rules
Why accents such as the one in camións stay in the plural.
Level 1
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
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