Plural Nouns
A plural noun swaps its ending: namas → namai (houses), knyga → knygos (books), gatvė → gatvės (streets), brolis → broliai (brothers), akis → akys (eyes), sūnus → sūnūs (sons).
How It Works
Singular → plural
- -as → -ai: namas → namai, draugas → draugai.
- -ias → -iai: svečias → svečiai (guests).
- -is (masculine) → -iai: brolis → broliai.
- -ys → -iai: arklys → arkliai (horses).
- -us → -ūs: sūnus → sūnūs. -ius → -iai: skaičius → skaičiai (numbers).
- -a → -os: knyga → knygos. -ia → -ios: vyšnia → vyšnios.
- -ė → -ės: gatvė → gatvės.
- -is (feminine, genitive -ies) → -ys: akis → akys, naktis → naktys. Masculine dantis (tooth) follows this group too: dantys.
- -uo and duktė add -en- or -er-: vanduo → vandenys, akmuo → akmenys, sesuo → seserys, duktė → dukterys. Šuo (dog) becomes šunys.
Sound changes before -iai
Before -iai, t becomes č and d becomes dž: vokietis → vokiečiai (Germans), medis → medžiai (trees). The same change happens in other forms of these nouns.
One irregular plural
Žmogus (person) has the plural žmonės (people).
The rest of the sentence
Adjectives and this/that words agree in the plural: šie nauji namai (these new houses), tos ilgos gatvės (those long streets). The verb in the third person looks the same as in the singular: Brolis dirba. Broliai dirba. Some nouns exist only in the plural, such as durys (door); see Plural-Only Nouns. For plural endings in the other cases, see Plural Case Endings.
Examples (6)
- Knygos yra ant stalo.
The books are on the table.
Word by Word: Books are on table.
Knyga ends in -a, so the plural ends in -os.
- Mūsų gatvėje yra gražūs namai.
There are beautiful houses on our street.
Word by Word: Our in-street are beautiful houses.
Namas becomes namai, and the adjective gražus becomes gražūs.
- Mano broliai gyvena Kaune.
My brothers live in Kaunas.
Word by Word: My brothers live in-Kaunas.
Brolis becomes broliai.
- Jos akys žalios.
Her eyes are green.
Word by Word: Her eyes green.
Feminine akis becomes akys.
- Mano seserys yra studentės.
My sisters are students.
Word by Word: My sisters are students(female).
Sesuo adds -er- in the plural: seserys.
- Sūnūs jau dideli.
The sons are already grown up.
Word by Word: Sons already big.
Sūnus becomes sūnūs, with a long ū.
Common Mistakes
Giving a feminine -a noun the masculine plural ending -ai.
Knygai yra ant stalo.Knygos yra ant stalo.Nouns in -a make their plural with -os. The ending -ai is for masculine nouns in -as.
Giving a feminine -is noun the masculine plural ending -iai.
Jos akiai žalios.Jos akys žalios.Akis is feminine (genitive akies), so its plural is akys. Only masculine -is nouns like brolis take -iai.
Keeping t before -iai.
Vokietiai gyvena Berlyne.Vokiečiai gyvena Berlyne.Before -iai, t changes to č: vokietis becomes vokiečiai. In the same way, d changes to dž: medis, medžiai.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Plural formation builds on the noun endings used to recognize gender.
Related Patterns
- Masculine Nouns
Masculine noun endings help predict their plurals, but some nouns need to be learned separately.
Level 1 - Feminine Nouns
Feminine -a, -ė and -is nouns have their own plural endings: -os, -ės and -ys.
Level 1 - Plural Case Endings
This entry covers the nominative plural; that one adds the other plural cases.
Level 2 - Plural-Only Nouns
Some nouns, like durys and marškiniai, exist only in the plural.
Level 3 - Adjective Agreement
Adjectives change to the plural along with the noun, as in gražūs namai.
Level 1 - Fifth Declension: -uo, -ens, -ersThe Fifth Declension
Vanduo, sesuo and duktė add -en- or -er- in the plural.
Level 3
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
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