Some Dutch nouns form their plural with 's — an apostrophe followed by s — rather than a plain -s: foto's, baby's, taxi's, menu's. To an English eye this looks like the dreaded "greengrocer's apostrophe" (the misplaced apple's on a market stall), but in Dutch it is not a mistake and not a possessive. It is a deliberate spelling device whose only job is to keep the final vowel long. Once you see that, you'll know exactly which words need it and which don't — and you'll never write "fotos" or "apple's" again.
The rule: single stressed a, i, o, u, y → add 's
The apostrophe-s plural is for nouns ending in a single, stressed vowel letter — specifically a, i, o, u, or y. You add 's.
| Singular | Plural | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| foto | foto's | photo → photos |
| baby | baby's | baby → babies |
| taxi | taxi's | taxi → taxis |
| menu | menu's | menu → menus |
| oma | oma's | grandma → grandmas |
| paraplu | paraplu's | umbrella → umbrellas |
| hobby | hobby's | hobby → hobbies |
foto → foto's
'photo' → 'photos' — 's protects the long final o.
baby → baby's
'baby' → 'babies' — note Dutch keeps the y; it does not become 'babies' as in English.
oma → oma's
'grandma' → 'grandmas' — 's after a final stressed a.
We hebben honderden foto's gemaakt op vakantie.
We took hundreds of photos on holiday.
Bij oma's thuis is het altijd gezellig.
At grandma's place it's always cosy.
Why the apostrophe is needed — the open/closed-syllable logic
To see why Dutch can't just write "fotos", recall the open/closed-syllable rule: a single vowel letter in a closed syllable reads short. If you wrote fotos, the -s would close that final syllable — fo-tos — and the o would be read short, giving a wrong pronunciation. The apostrophe acts as a spacer: it keeps the s from latching onto the vowel, so the syllable stays open and the o stays long.
foto's, not 'fotos'
Without the apostrophe, -s would close the syllable and shorten the o to a clipped sound.
taxi's, not 'taxis'
The apostrophe keeps the final i long; 'taxis' would invite a short reading.
This is the same protective instinct behind the whole Dutch vowel system: the language goes out of its way to keep a written vowel's length unambiguous. The apostrophe is simply the tool it reaches for when a vowel letter would otherwise get trapped in a closed syllable by the plural -s. (The apostrophe also turns up in a few other places for related reasons — see trema and apostrophe.)
Words ending in -e just add -s (no apostrophe)
The apostrophe is only for the bare vowels a, i, o, u, y. A noun ending in -e (pronounced as a weak schwa) does not take an apostrophe — it adds a plain -s. The final -e is already a weak vowel that doesn't need protecting, so there's nothing for the apostrophe to do.
kade → kades
'quay' → 'quays' — plain -s, NO apostrophe, because it ends in -e.
bode → bodes
'messenger' → 'messengers' — final -e, so plain -s.
De kades langs het IJ zijn 's avonds prachtig verlicht.
The quays along the IJ are beautifully lit in the evening.
So the test is sharp: ends in -e? → plain -s (kades). Ends in a single stressed a/i/o/u/y? → apostrophe 's (foto's). The difference is audible too: the -e of kade is a throwaway schwa ("uh"), whereas the o of foto is a full, ringing long vowel that the spelling must defend. When you're unsure, say the singular and listen to the final vowel — a strong, clearly-pronounced vowel is the one that earns an apostrophe.
Note that the rule needs the vowel to be stressed and single. A word ending in a doubled vowel like zee ("sea") already shows its length with two letters and takes the -en plural with a trema instead — zeeën — never apostrophe-s. And a vowel that isn't word-final, or sits in a cluster, doesn't qualify either; the apostrophe is reserved strictly for that lone final a, i, o, u, or y.
The same apostrophe in abbreviations
This vowel-protecting apostrophe also shows up when you pluralise certain abbreviations and letters — anything where a bare -s would visually merge with the preceding character or distort it. So you get cd's, sms'jes (the diminutive plural of sms), tv's, and bv's.
cd → cd's
'CD' → 'CDs' — the apostrophe separates the plural -s from the abbreviation.
sms → sms'jes
'text message' → 'text messages' — the apostrophe sits before the diminutive plural -jes.
Heb je mijn sms'jes van vanmorgen al gelezen?
Have you read my text messages from this morning yet?
Common Mistakes
The two opposite errors: importing the English possessive apostrophe everywhere, or forgetting the apostrophe exactly where Dutch needs it.
❌ apple's / tafel's (apostrophe on every plural)
Wrong — the 'greengrocer's apostrophe'. Dutch uses 's only after a single stressed a/i/o/u/y.
✅ tafels, but foto's
Plain -s on tafel; apostrophe only where a vowel needs protecting.
❌ fotos
Wrong — without the apostrophe the o falls into a closed syllable and reads short.
✅ foto's
'photos' — the apostrophe keeps the o long.
❌ kade's
Wrong — words ending in -e take plain -s; the -e needs no protecting.
✅ kades
'quays' — plain -s, no apostrophe.
❌ babies
Wrong — that's the English plural. Dutch keeps the y and adds 's.
✅ baby's
'babies' — Dutch apostrophe-s, with the y intact.
❌ cds / sms'es
Wrong — these abbreviations take 's: cd's, sms'jes.
✅ cd's, sms'jes
The apostrophe separates the plural ending from the abbreviation.
Key Takeaways
- Add 's (apostrophe-s) after a single stressed vowel letter a, i, o, u, y: foto's, baby's, taxi's, menu's, oma's, paraplu's, hobby's.
- The apostrophe is a spelling device to protect vowel length, keeping the syllable open — it is not a possessive.
- Words ending in -e take plain -s, no apostrophe: kades, bodes, garages.
- Dutch keeps the y: baby → baby's, not the English babies.
- The same apostrophe appears in pluralised abbreviations: cd's, tv's, sms'jes.
Now practice Dutch
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Start learning Dutch→Related Topics
- The -s PluralA1 — Which Dutch nouns take -s rather than -en in the plural — words ending in unstressed -el/-em/-en/-er and -je, plus loanwords and most vowels — and why every diminutive is a guaranteed -s.
- Forming Plurals: OverviewA1 — A map of Dutch pluralisation — the two main endings -en and -s, plus apostrophe-s and irregulars — with the rule of thumb for choosing, and how plurals tie into the open/closed-syllable spelling rule.
- The Trema and the ApostropheB1 — The trema (ë ï ö ü) breaks a vowel sequence into separate syllables so it isn't misread as a digraph — coördinatie, reünie, ruïne — while the apostrophe forms plurals of vowel-final words (foto's, baby's) and certain genitives (Anna's auto). Both are grammatical, not decorative.
- Open and Closed Syllables: The Doubling RuleA1 — The keystone of Dutch spelling — how open vs closed syllables control vowel-letter and consonant-letter doubling, the rule behind nearly every plural, conjugation, and diminutive.
- The -en Plural and Its Spelling ChangesA1 — The default Dutch plural ending -en and the four spelling changes it triggers — consonant doubling, vowel single-spelling, v/z surfacing, and undoing final devoicing — all driven by syllable structure.