Plural of Nouns for Men

Level 3

Men in the plural: -i (študenti, Slováci), -ia (učitelia) or -ovia (synovia, hrdinovia).

How It Works

-i: the most common ending

  • študent → študenti, kamarát → kamaráti, lekár → lekári, pán → páni
  • k → c: Slovák → Slováci, žiak → žiaci, vojak → vojaci
  • ch → s: Čech → Česi
  • the e of -ec drops: chlapec → chlapci, Nemec → Nemci
  • nouns in -ista: turista → turisti, hokejista → hokejisti

-ia

  • nouns in -teľ, where ľ becomes l: učiteľ → učitelia, priateľ → priatelia
  • nouns in -an: Američan → Američania, Angličan → Angličania
  • a few others: brat → bratia, sused → susedia, hosť → hostia

-ovia

  • nouns ending in -a: hrdina → hrdinovia, kolega → kolegovia
  • nouns ending in -o: dedo → dedovia
  • many family words and short nouns: syn → synovia, otec → otcovia
  • many nouns in -g: biológ → biológovia

Irregular. Človek has the plural ľudia. See Irregular Plurals.

Words around them change too. Adjectives take -í and pointing words take their own forms: tí mladí študenti. See Plural Adjectives for Men and Others.

Register note. In casual speech you may hear forms like tie chlapy, with the ending of things. They sound rough or dismissive, so use tí chlapi in neutral speech.

Examples (6)

  1. Študenti sa učia v knižnici.

    The students are studying in the library.

  2. Slováci radi chodia na hory.

    Slovaks like going to the mountains.

    Slovák becomes Slováci: k changes to c before -i.

  3. Naši učitelia sú mladí.

    Our teachers are young.

    učiteľ takes -ia, and ľ becomes l.

  4. Moji synovia bývajú v Košiciach.

    My sons live in Košice.

    syn takes -ovia.

  5. Chlapci hrajú futbal.

    The boys are playing football.

    chlapec drops its e: chlapci.

  6. Kolegovia prišli neskoro.

    My colleagues came late.

    kolega ends in -a, so the plural is -ovia.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping k before -i.

    Slováki sú tu.
    Slováci sú tu.

    Before the plural ending -i, k changes to c: Slovák, Slováci; žiak, žiaci.

  • Using -i instead of -ia with nouns in -teľ.

    Moji učiteli sú milí.
    Moji učitelia sú milí.

    Nouns ending in -teľ take -ia in the plural, and ľ becomes l: učitelia, priatelia.

How It Connects

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Plural of Nouns for MenLevel 3

Learn This First

Before Plural of Nouns for Men, learn Plural Nouns and Animate and Inanimate Masculine Nouns. Men's plurals are a special kind of nominative plural. Only masculine animate nouns for people take these endings.

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Patterns that build on this one.