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You are here: Home / Spanish Grammar 104 Plurals

Spanish Grammar 104 Plurals

Plural forms of Spanish nouns

If a noun ends in a vowel, make it plural by adding ‘s’:

libro – libros (books), bolígrafo – bolígrafos (pens), chica – chicas (girls), mesa – mesas (tables)

The definite articles ‘el’ & ‘la’ also change in the plural form. They become ‘los’ and ‘las’:

el libro (the book) – los libros (the books)
el bolígrafo (the pen) – los bolígrafos (the pens)
la chica (the girl) – las chicas (the girls)
la mesa (the table) – las mesas (the tables)

If a noun ends in a consonant, make it plural by adding ‘-es’:

el profesor – (the teacher) – los profesores (the teachers)
la universidad (the university) – las universidades (the universities)

If a noun ends in ‘-z’, add ‘-es’ and change the ‘z’ to a ‘c’:

el lápiz (the pencil) – los lápices (the pencils)
la voz (the voice) – las voces (the voices)
la actriz (the actress) – las actrices (the actresses)

When the plural refers to two or more nouns of different genders, the masculine plural is used:

5 chicas + 1 chico = 8 chicos

A few nouns are compound nouns, that is to say they are formed by combining two words into one. For example:

abre + latas = abrelatas / open + cans = can opener

el abrebotellas (bottle-opener)
el lavaplatos (dishwasher)
el lavavajillas (washing-up liquid),
el limpiaparabrisas (windshield / windscreen wiper)
el sacarcorchos (corkscrew)

These compound nouns are always masculine, and the plural is formed by changing the “el” to “los”.

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