Irregular Plurals

Level 3

Four everyday nouns change completely in the plural: človek → ľudia (people), dieťa → deti (children), oko → oči (eyes) and ucho → uši (ears).

How It Works

The four plurals and their cases.

  • ľudia (people): bez ľudí, k ľuďom, vidím ľudí, o ľuďoch, s ľuďmi
  • deti (children): bez detí, k deťom, vidím deti, o deťoch, s deťmi
  • oči (eyes): bez očí, k očiam, vidím oči, v očiach, očami
  • uši (ears): bez uší, k ušiam, vidím uši, v ušiach, ušami

Agreement. Ľudia refers to people, so it takes the forms used for men: Tí ľudia sú milí. Deti, oči and uši take the ordinary plural forms: Tie deti sú hlučné. Má modré oči. See tí and tie.

With numbers. Say dvaja ľudia, traja ľudia (see numbers for groups of men) and dve deti, tri deti. From five up, use the genitive plural: päť ľudí, päť detí.

Oko and ucho for things. When they name objects that only look like eyes or ears, oko and ucho have regular plurals: oká (loops, stitches), uchá (handles of a pot or cup). Only the body parts use oči and uši.

The singular of dieťa. In the singular, dieťa follows the model of dievča: dieťaťa, dieťaťu, s dieťaťom.

Examples (6)

  1. Na koncerte bolo veľa ľudí.

    There were a lot of people at the concert.

    Word by Word: At concert was many people.

    After veľa, ľudia is in the genitive: ľudí.

  2. Deti sa hrajú v záhrade.

    The children are playing in the garden.

    Word by Word: Children themselves play in garden.

  3. Máš krásne modré oči.

    You have beautiful blue eyes.

    Word by Word: You-have beautiful blue eyes.

    Oči takes the -e form of the adjective: modré.

  4. Bolia ma uši.

    My ears hurt.

    Word by Word: Hurt me ears.

    Uši is plural, so the verb is bolia.

  5. Rád sa rozprávam s ľuďmi.

    I like talking to people.

    Word by Word: Gladly myself I-talk with people.

    The instrumental plural of ľudia is ľuďmi.

  6. Kúpili sme darčeky deťom.

    We bought presents for the children.

    Word by Word: We-bought presents children.

    The dative plural of deti is deťom.

Common Mistakes

  • Making a regular plural of človek.

    Tam sú tri človeky.
    Tam sú traja ľudia.

    Človek has the plural ľudia, and it counts with the forms for men: traja ľudia.

  • Using the singular dieťa after a number.

    Mám dve dieťa.
    Mám dve deti.

    The plural of dieťa is deti.

  • Using the object plural for body parts.

    Mám modré oká.
    Mám modré oči.

    Oká means loops or stitches. For eyes, the plural is always oči.

How It Connects

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

Irregular PluralsLevel 3

Learn This First

Before Irregular Plurals, learn Plural Nouns. Irregular plurals are exceptions to the regular nominative plural.

Words in This Pattern

človekľudiadieťaokoucho