Plurals of professions (-lieden, -lui)

Plurals of Professions: -lieden and -lui

In Dutch, compound nouns ending in -man that indicate a traditional profession or demographic often do not take standard plural endings (like -mannen). Instead, they have irregular plurals where the suffix changes completely.

The Suffixes -lieden and -lui

To form the plural of these professions, replace -man with either -lieden or -lui.

• -lieden is more formal, often used in writing and formal speech.
• -lui is more informal, commonly used in everyday spoken Dutch.

Both words historically mean "people" or "folk". Let's see this in action with maritime and historical trades, starting with the sailor (de zeeman).

The same pattern applies to merchants (de koopman):

Everyday Trades and Occupations

You will encounter this rule with many other trades and occupations, such as businessmen (de zakenman), craftsmen (de vakman), carpenters (de timmerman), and firefighters (de brandweerman). For these, you can typically choose between -lieden and -lui based on your desired level of formality.

Formal Titles Restricting -lui

While everyday trades freely use both endings, highly formal, political, or legal titles almost exclusively use the formal -lieden. Using the informal -lui for a government minister (de bewindsman) or a legal counsel (de raadsman) would sound inappropriately casual. Traditional artisans (de ambachtsman) also typically use -lieden.