Forming Plurals with -en
The most common way to make a noun plural in Dutch is by adding -en to the end of the singular word.
| We see two animals. | We zien twee dieren. |
| The woman buys ten flowers. | De vrouw koopt tien bloemen. |
The Plural Article: de
In the singular, Dutch nouns take either de or het. However, in the plural, this gets much simpler: all specific plural nouns use de, even if the singular form uses het.
| animal | het dier |
| Where are the animals? | Waar zijn de dieren? |
Spelling Rules for Plurals
Because of how syllables work in Dutch, adding -en sometimes requires a small spelling change to ensure the vowel sounds exactly the same in both singular and plural forms.
Short Vowels: If a word ends in a single short vowel followed by a single consonant, double the final consonant before adding -en. This locks the vowel in so it stays short. For example, vis (fish) becomes vissen.
| We have eight fish. | We hebben acht vissen. |
Long Vowels: If a word has a double vowel (like aa, ee, or oo) followed by a single consonant, drop one of the vowels before adding -en. The vowel remains long because it is now at the end of the first syllable. For example, boom (tree) becomes bomen, and schaap (sheep) becomes schapen.
| The trees are old. | De bomen zijn oud. |
| The man has seven sheep. | De man heeft zeven schapen. |