Afrikaans plurals trip up beginners because the visible endings hide an invisible system: the short/long vowel rule that drives consonant doubling, and the g-deletion that pulls in a diaeresis. Most plural errors are not really about choosing -e or -s at all — they are about ignoring the spelling logic underneath. This page collects the five error types English speakers make most often, each as a wrong-to-right pair, and points each one back to the rule it breaks. For the full positive rules, see the plurals overview; this page is about the traps.
Error 1: -s everywhere (English over-generalisation)
English forms almost every plural with -s, so English speakers reach for -s by reflex. But the default Afrikaans plural ending is -e, and -s is reserved for a specific minority (often longer words, many ending in unstressed syllables, and loanwords). Slapping -s onto a word that wants -e is the single most frequent beginner error.
❌ Ek het twee boeks gekoop.
Incorrect — 'boek' takes -e, not -s.
✅ Ek het twee boeke gekoop.
I bought two books.
❌ Daar is baie huise... — written as 'huizes'.
Incorrect — the plural of 'huis' is 'huise', with -e and no English -z-.
✅ Daar is baie huise in die straat.
There are many houses in the street.
Error 2: missing consonant doubling
This is the error that reveals the hidden vowel system. When a short, stressed vowel is followed by a single consonant, that consonant doubles before the -e ending — to keep the vowel short. Forget to double, and you accidentally lengthen the vowel and change the word. Kat (cat) has a short a; its plural must be katte, because kate would be read with a long a.
❌ Ek het twee kate gesien.
Incorrect — 'kat' has a short vowel, so the t doubles: 'katte'. 'Kate' reads with a long a.
✅ Ek het twee katte gesien.
I saw two cats.
❌ Die kinders het met blokke... — written 'blokke' as 'bloke'.
Incorrect — 'blok' (block) doubles to 'blokke'; 'bloke' would have a long o.
✅ Die kinders speel met blokke.
The children are playing with blocks.
This is also why the diminutive mannetjie ("little man") keeps its double n — the a in man is short. Dropping a consonant here produces a non-word.
❌ Kyk na die klein mantjies.
Incorrect — 'man' has a short vowel; the form is 'mannetjies' with double n.
✅ Kyk na die klein mannetjies.
Look at the little men.
For the full short/long mechanics, see consonant doubling.
Error 3: the wrong -e / -s choice
Even once you accept that -e is the default, a set of common nouns genuinely take -s — and getting these backwards is a classic mistake. Many everyday words ending in -el, -er, -en, and most diminutives take -s. There is no shortcut for the whole list; you learn the frequent ones.
| Singular | Plural | Ending |
|---|---|---|
| tafel (table) | tafels | -s |
| moeder (mother) | moeders | -s |
| boek (book) | boeke | -e |
| hond (dog) | honde | -e |
| katjie (kitten) | katjies | -s (diminutive) |
❌ Al die tafele was vol.
Incorrect — 'tafel' takes -s: 'tafels'.
✅ Al die tafels was vol.
All the tables were full.
❌ My twee katjie-e slaap.
Incorrect — diminutives take -s: 'katjies'.
✅ My twee katjies slaap.
My two kittens are sleeping.
Error 4: the dropped diaeresis
This is the most uniquely Afrikaans plural trap, and the one that most needs spelling attention. When a noun ends in -g after a vowel, the g disappears in the plural — and because two vowels then collide, a diaeresis (the two dots) goes on the second vowel to show it starts a new syllable. Oog (eye) becomes oë, not oe; vlieg (fly) becomes vlieë. Drop the dots and you have a spelling error and often an unreadable vowel cluster.
| Singular | Plural | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| oog (eye) | oë | g drops, diaeresis on e |
| vlieg (fly) | vlieë | g drops, diaeresis on e |
| boog (arch) | boë | g drops, diaeresis on e |
| oorlog (war) | oorloë | g drops, diaeresis on e |
❌ Sy het pragtige groen oe.
Incorrect — the plural of 'oog' needs the diaeresis: 'oë'.
✅ Sy het pragtige groen oë.
She has gorgeous green eyes.
❌ Daar was twee oorloe in die boek.
Incorrect — 'oorlog' loses its g and takes a diaeresis: 'oorloë'.
✅ Daar was twee oorloë in die boek.
There were two wars in the book.
The same diaeresis logic explains why reël ("rule, line") keeps its dots in the plural reëls — the two dots mark re-ëls as two syllables. Writing reels runs the vowels together and is simply misspelled.
❌ Lees die reels voordat jy begin.
Incorrect — 'reël' keeps its diaeresis in the plural: 'reëls'.
✅ Lees die reëls voordat jy begin.
Read the rules before you start.
Error 5: regularised irregulars
A handful of high-frequency nouns have irregular plurals that learners "tidy up" into regular ones. The worst offender is kind ("child"), whose plural is kinders — it adds an extra -er- before the -s. Learners produce kinde or kinds; both are wrong.
❌ Hoeveel kinds het julle?
Incorrect — the plural of 'kind' is 'kinders'.
✅ Hoeveel kinders het julle?
How many children do you have?
❌ Die twee kinde speel buite.
Incorrect — it is 'kinders', with the -er- infix and -s.
✅ Die twee kinders speel buite.
The two children are playing outside.
Other irregulars worth memorising as whole forms include glas → glase (with a long vowel, no doubling), lam → lammers ("lamb," like kind), and stad → stede ("city," with a vowel change). These do not follow the doubling rule, so do not try to apply it.
Common mistakes
❌ twee boeks
Incorrect — -s over-generalised; the plural is 'boeke'.
✅ twee boeke
two books
❌ drie kate
Incorrect — missing doubling; the short vowel needs 'katte'.
✅ drie katte
three cats
❌ baie oe
Incorrect — dropped diaeresis; it is 'oë'.
✅ baie oë
many eyes
❌ vyf kinds
Incorrect — regularised irregular; the plural is 'kinders'.
✅ vyf kinders
five children
❌ die reels van die spel
Incorrect — missing diaeresis; 'reël' pluralises to 'reëls'.
✅ die reëls van die spel
the rules of the game
Key takeaways
- -e is the Afrikaans default plural; -s is the marked exception — the reverse of English instinct, which causes the boeks error.
- Short, stressed vowels force consonant doubling before -e: kat → katte, blok → blokke. Forgetting the double letter changes the vowel.
- A genuine set of nouns (many -el/-er words and all diminutives) take -s — learn the frequent ones rather than guessing.
- When a -g drops between vowels, the plural needs a diaeresis: oog → oë, vlieg → vlieë, oorlog → oorloë; and reël → reëls keeps its dots.
- A few irregulars resist the rules — above all kind → kinders — and must be memorised as whole forms.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Forming Plurals: -e and -sA1 — How Afrikaans builds most plurals with the endings -e and -s, and how to choose between them.
- Plurals with the DiaeresisA2 — Why some Afrikaans plurals carry a diaeresis (oog→oë, knie→knieë, see→seë): the -e ending brings two vowels together, and the dots simply mark the syllable break.
- Consonant DoublingA2 — Why a single consonant doubles after a short vowel when an ending is added — kat becomes katte — and how it mirrors vowel doubling.
- Common Mistakes: OverviewA2 — A map of the most frequent Afrikaans errors, sorted by their source — English transfer, Dutch transfer, and internal Afrikaans difficulties — because the two learner groups make opposite mistakes.