Plurals in -es | Catalan Grammar

Many of the most frequent Catalan plurals end visibly in -es: casa → cases, pare → pares, problema → problemes. For a singular in unstressed -a, replace -a with -es. For a singular already ending in unstressed -e, add plural -s, producing the same visible ending -es.

The rule becomes especially important when the consonant before final -a changes spelling: vaca → vaques, amiga → amigues, plaça → places. These are not irregular plurals. The spelling changes preserve the intended consonant sound before the new e.

The basic -es paradigm

Singular type	Singular	Plural	What happens
Feminine in unstressed -a	casa	cases	Replace -a with -es
Masculine exception in unstressed -a	problema	problemes	The same plural rule; gender does not change
Masculine in unstressed -e	pare	pares	Add -s
Feminine in unstressed -e	classe	classes	Add -s

Els meus pares viuen en un poble amb moltes cases blanques.

My parents live in a village with many white houses.

Les classes de la tarda tenen menys alumnes que les del matí.

The afternoon classes have fewer students than the morning ones.

The final letters -es do not identify gender. Cases is feminine, pares is masculine, and problemes is masculine. Gender comes from the noun's lexical identity; number comes from plural morphology.

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Ask what the singular ends in before choosing a plural. If it has unstressed -a, replace that vowel with -es; do not simply attach -s and produce Spanish-looking forms such as *casas.

Nouns in unstressed -a

Most singular nouns in unstressed -a are feminine: dona/dones, porta/portes, setmana/setmanes, taula/taules. The same replacement applies to masculine nouns in -a: dia/dies, mapa/mapes, planeta/planetes, programa/programes, problema/problemes.

Aquests mapes antics mostren dues places que ja no existeixen.

These old maps show two squares that no longer exist.

Els programes nous han resolt alguns problemes tècnics.

The new programs have solved some technical problems.

This matters for agreement. Problemes still takes masculine plural els, aquests, and adjectives such as tècnics. A plural ending cannot turn a masculine noun feminine.

Nouns in unstressed -e

Nouns ending in unstressed -e add -s: pare/pares, home/homes, dubte/dubtes, imatge/imatges, classe/classes, mare/mares. The resulting spelling ends in -es, but there is no deletion of the original e.

Les mares i els pares parlaven de les classes dels seus fills.

The mothers and fathers were talking about their children's classes.

Les imatges del reportatge plantegen dubtes importants.

The images in the report raise important questions.

Do not infer gender from final -e: pare and dubte are masculine; mare, classe, and imatge are feminine. Learn their articles along with the singular forms.

Why consonants change before -es

When final -a is removed, the stem may end in a consonant whose ordinary spelling depends on the following vowel. Catalan changes the spelling so that the plural keeps the relevant consonant value.

Singular	Plural	Alternation	Reason
vaca	vaques	-ca → -ques	qu keeps the hard /k/ sound before e
amiga	amigues	-ga → -gues	gu keeps the hard /g/ sound before e
plaça	places	-ça → -ces	ç is not written before e; c has the required value there
platja	platges	-ja → -ges	g before e represents the corresponding sound
llengua	llengües	-gua → -gües	The diaeresis shows that u is pronounced before e
Pasqua	Pasqües	-qua → -qües	The diaeresis preserves pronounced u

Les vaques negres pasturen darrere d'aquelles tanques blanques.

The black cows are grazing behind those white fences.

Les meves amigues gallegues viuen en ciutats diferents.

My Galician friends live in different cities.

A l'estiu netegen les platges i les places cada matinada.

In summer they clean the beaches and squares every early morning.

The Spanish cognate vaca/vacas is misleading here. Catalan vaca becomes vaques, not vacas, because writing c before e would signal a different consonant value. The extra u is orthographic; it is not pronounced in vaques.

Gua/gües and the diaeresis

In aigua → aigües and llengua → llengües, the u is pronounced in both singular and plural. Before a, spelling gu can contain a pronounced u without a diaeresis; before e, gue would ordinarily have a silent u. The diaeresis in güe overrides that expectation.

En aquesta zona conviuen diverses llengües i cultures.

Several languages and cultures coexist in this area.

Després de les pluges, les aigües del riu baixen tèrboles.

After the rains, the river waters run muddy.

The marks in aigües and llengües are not optional decoration. Removing the diaeresis gives a misspelling and obscures the pronunciation. The same logic is developed on the diaeresis page.

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Think of vaques and aigües as sound-preserving spellings. In qu/gu + e, plain u is silent; ü explicitly says “pronounce this u.”

Agreement across the phrase

Plural formation does not stop at the noun. Compare aquesta amiga mallorquina simpàtica with aquestes dues amigues mallorquines simpàtiques. Every variable word is feminine plural, and both amigues and simpàtiques use -ques to preserve /k/.

Aquestes dues amigues mallorquines simpàtiques ens han recomanat unes cales tranquil·les.

These two friendly Mallorcan friends have recommended some quiet coves to us.

English leaves “this/two/friendly/Mallorcan” largely without gender-number morphology. Catalan makes the relation visible at several points. That redundancy helps listeners recognize the phrase even when one ending is hard to hear.

Adjective position can also change meaning. Neutral descriptive adjectives usually follow the noun, but some pre-nominal uses are evaluative:

L'associació ajuda unes pobres dones que s'han quedat sense casa.

The association helps some unfortunate women who have been left homeless.

L'associació ajuda unes dones pobres del barri.

The association helps some poor women from the neighborhood. (They lack money.)

Before the noun, pobres expresses the speaker's pity; after it, pobres describes economic condition. Both positions require feminine plural agreement.

Bare and determined plurals

As with simple -s plurals, -es does not itself express definiteness. A bare plural often introduces an indefinite quantity, while an article identifies a known set.

Necessito cadires plegables per a la reunió.

I need folding chairs for the meeting. (Any suitable chairs)

Necessito les cadires plegables que hi ha al magatzem.

I need the folding chairs that are in the storeroom. (The specific known chairs)

Do not copy English article distribution mechanically. Catalan may use definite plurals for generic classes—Les balenes són mamífers—even where English has bare “Whales.”

Regional consistency

The written -es patterns above belong to the shared IEC/AVL standard. Regional articles and demonstratives can differ: Central aquestes cases, (regional: Valencian) estes cases, and (regional: Balearic; informal) ses cases. Each is systematic in its own variety. Choose the variety appropriate to the text; do not build a single paradigm by randomly alternating aquestes, estes, and ses.

Common Mistakes

1. Adding -s after final -a as in Spanish or English.

❌ Les casas del carrer són antigues.

Incorrect — final -a is replaced by -es.

✅ Les cases del carrer són antigues.

The houses on the street are old.

2. Failing to preserve hard c or g.

❌ Les vaces són al prat i les meves amiges, al poble.

Incorrect — without the spelling changes, c and g would signal different sounds before e.

✅ Les vaques són al prat i les meves amigues, al poble.

The cows are in the meadow and my friends are in the village.

3. Keeping ç before e.

❌ Les plaçes són plenes aquesta tarda.

Incorrect — ç is replaced by c before plural -es.

✅ Les places són plenes aquesta tarda.

The squares are crowded this afternoon.

4. Omitting the diaeresis in -gües.

❌ Aquí es parlen dues llengues.

Incorrect — the diaeresis is required in llengües.

✅ Aquí es parlen dues llengües.

Two languages are spoken here.

5. Letting the plural ending decide gender.

❌ Aquestes problemes semblen difícils.

Incorrect — problema remains masculine in the plural.

✅ Aquests problemes semblen difícils.

These problems seem difficult.

Key Takeaways

Replace unstressed final -a with -es and add -s to unstressed final -e. Apply the regular sound-preserving alternations -ca/-ques, -ga/-gues, -ça/-ces, and -ja/-ges. Write the diaeresis in aigües and llengües, and remember that visible -es marks plural—not feminine gender or definiteness by itself.

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