Irregular Plurals with -eren
Most Dutch nouns form their plural by adding -en or -s. However, a small, closed group of common nouns takes the irregular ending -eren.
Two of the most frequent words in Dutch follow this rule: het kind (the child) becomes de kinderen, and het ei (the egg) becomes de eieren.
| I am frying three eggs. | Ik ben drie eieren aan het bakken. |
| The children play on the farm. | De kinderen spelen op de boerderij. |
| The children sing old songs. | De kinderen zingen oude liederen. |
Spelling Changes in -eren Plurals
Just like regular plurals, some of these irregular nouns adjust their spelling to maintain correct pronunciation. You will often see these words when talking about nature and farm animals:
- het blad (the leaf) becomes de bladeren
- het rund (the cattle) becomes de runderen
- het kalf (the calf) becomes de kalveren (the f changes to a v)
- het lam (the lamb) becomes de lammeren (the m doubles to keep the vowel short)
| In the autumn, the leaves fall. | In de herfst vallen de bladeren. |
| The calves and the lambs stand in the meadow. | De kalveren en de lammeren staan in de wei. |
| There are many cattle on that farm. | Er zijn veel runderen op die boerderij. |
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