English makes plurals almost mechanically: add -s (dog → dogs) and you are done nine times out of ten. Icelandic does nothing of the kind. The plural ending depends on the noun's gender and its declension class, some nouns change their stem vowel instead of (or as well as) taking an ending, and — the first big surprise — many nouns take no ending at all in the plural. The one thing you can rely on is this: there is no -s plural anywhere in Icelandic. This page gives you the high-level map; the precise endings for each class are covered on the dedicated declension pages.
There is no -s plural — unlearn it first
Before learning what Icelandic does do, delete the reflex of adding -s. It never happens. Reaching for an -s is the single most common English-transfer error in the whole noun system, and it produces words that simply do not exist.
Tveir hestar standa úti.
Two horses are standing outside. The plural of 'hestur' is 'hestar' — never 'hests' or 'hestur-s'.
Plurals follow gender
The plural ending is tied to gender. Here is the headline pattern — one common, regular noun per gender — to anchor everything else:
| Gender | Singular ("a _") | Plural ("___s") | Typical ending |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | hestur | hestar | -ar |
| Feminine | borg | borgir | -ir |
| Neuter | borð | borð | (no ending) |
Hestur — hestar. Borg — borgir. Borð — borð.
A horse — horses. A city — cities. A table — tables. Masculine -ar, feminine -ir, neuter no change.
A word of honesty: even within a gender there is more than one ending. Masculines split between -ar (hestur → hestar) and -ir (gestur → gestir, "a guest" → "guests"); feminines split between -ir (borg → borgir) and -ar (mynd → myndir, but vél → vélar). You cannot reliably predict which ending a given noun takes from its singular alone — it is a property of its class, learned with the word. The table above gives you the most common representative of each gender so you have a default to lean on while you build that class knowledge.
Tveir gestir komu í kvöld.
Two guests came this evening. Masculine 'gestur' takes -ir (gestir), not -ar — a different class from 'hestur'.
Margar borgir á Íslandi eru litlar.
Many cities in Iceland are small. Feminine 'borg' → 'borgir' with -ir.
The neuter zero-plural surprise
The biggest shock for an English speaker is the neuter zero-plural: very many neuter nouns look exactly the same in the singular and the plural. One table is borð; many tables is also borð. The number is shown by other words (numerals, adjectives, the verb), not by the noun's ending.
Eitt borð — mörg borð.
One table — many tables. The neuter noun 'borð' does not change; only 'eitt' (one) vs 'mörg' (many) signals the number.
Húsin í götunni eru gömul.
The houses in the street are old. Neuter 'hús' is identical in the plural — here only the article (-in) and the verb 'eru' show it is plural.
This is genuinely counterintuitive, so flag it now rather than discovering it later: a neuter noun that looks unchanged may well be plural. Read the surrounding words to tell.
Plurals that change the vowel (u-umlaut)
The second surprise: some plurals are made — or accompanied — by a change in the stem vowel, not just a change in ending. The most important pattern at A1 is the u-umlaut, where a stem a becomes ö. It strikes neuter nouns hard: barn ("a child") has the plural börn ("children"), and land ("a country") has lönd ("countries").
Eitt barn — mörg börn.
One child — many children. The neuter 'barn' changes its vowel a → ö in the plural: 'börn'. No ending is added — only the vowel shifts.
Norðurlöndin eru fimm.
The Nordic countries are five. 'land' → 'lönd' (a → ö); here in the definite plural 'löndin' inside the compound 'Norðurlöndin'.
So barn → börn is doubly surprising: it is a neuter (so you might expect no change), yet it does change — through the vowel, not an ending. A vowel-changing plural also shows up in feminines like bók ("a book") → bækur ("books"), where the stem ó becomes æ and the ending -ur is added on top.
Þrjár bækur liggja á borðinu.
Three books are lying on the table. Feminine 'bók' → 'bækur': the vowel changes (ó → æ) AND the ending -ur is added.
The article pluralises too
When a plural noun is also definite ("the horses," not just "horses"), the suffixed article also takes a plural form. You make the plural of the noun first, then add the plural article on top.
Hestarnir eru úti.
The horses are outside. Plural 'hestar' + plural definite article = 'hestarnir'.
Börnin sofa.
The children are sleeping. Plural 'börn' (with the u-umlaut) + the article = 'börnin'.
You do not need to memorise the article-plural forms yet — just register that, like everything else, the article participates in the plural and is not a fixed tag.
Common Mistakes
❌ Tveir hests / tveir hestur-s.
Incorrect — there is no -s plural in Icelandic.
✅ Tveir hestar.
Two horses. Masculine plural ending -ar.
❌ Assuming 'borð' must change for 'tables' (borðs, borður...).
Incorrect — many neuter nouns are identical in the plural.
✅ mörg borð
Many tables. The neuter noun is unchanged; 'mörg' shows it is plural.
❌ barns / barnir for 'children'.
Incorrect — the plural of 'barn' is the vowel-changed 'börn', not a regular ending.
✅ börn
Children. The u-umlaut changes a → ö.
❌ Using one plural rule for every noun (e.g. always -ar).
Incorrect — the ending depends on gender AND class: -ar, -ir, -ur, or none.
✅ hestar, gestir, borgir, börn
Horses, guests, cities, children — four different plural shapes.
❌ bóks / bókur for 'books'.
Incorrect — 'bók' changes its vowel and takes -ur: 'bækur'.
✅ bækur
Books. Vowel change ó → æ plus the ending -ur.
Key Takeaways
- There is no -s plural anywhere in Icelandic — unlearn the English reflex completely.
- The plural ending depends on gender and class: masculine -ar/-ir, feminine -ir/-ar/-ur, neuter often no ending at all. You cannot fully predict it from the singular; learn it with the word.
- The two big A1 surprises: the neuter zero-plural (eitt borð / mörg borð — identical) and vowel-changing plurals (barn → börn, land → lönd, bók → bækur).
- The u-umlaut a → ö is the key vowel change to recognise; the ö is itself the mark of the plural.
- The definite article also pluralises (hestar → hestarnir, börn → börnin) — make the plural noun first, then add the article.
Now practice Icelandic
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Start learning Icelandic→Related Topics
- Icelandic Nouns: Case, Gender, NumberA1 — The big picture of the Icelandic noun: three grammatical genders, four cases marked by endings, number, and a suffixed definite article — plus why you must learn every noun as a three-form citation, not a single word.
- u-Umlaut in Plurals and the Dative PluralA2 — The single most pervasive sound rule in Icelandic noun inflection: a stem 'a' rounds to 'ö' before a following 'u' — most reliably in the dative-plural ending -um (dögum, löndum) and in many bare plurals (barn → börn, land → lönd).
- Neuter Nouns: The Core Pattern (borð, land)A2 — The strong neuter declension — the most uniform gender in Icelandic, where nominative and accusative are always identical, the plural adds no ending at all, and number is often carried only by the article, adjective or verb.