Plurals

A1–A2Nouns and determiners 4 min

A noun in a vowel adds -s, casas; a noun in a consonant adds -es, ciudades; and -z becomes -ces, lápices. The article and the adjective go plural with the noun: las casas blancas, los lápices rojos

No information at the current level. This view starts at A1: choose A1 or a higher level.

CheatsheetA1–A2

Point	Rule	Example	English
Vowel	+ s	casa → casas	houses
Consonant	+ es	ciudad → ciudades	cities
A2-z	z → ces	lápiz → lápices	pencils
Agreement	article and adjective go plural too	las casas blancas	the white houses
A2Unstressed -s	no change	el lunes → los lunes	Mondays
A2Written accent	the stress stays: the accent comes or goes	canción → canciones / joven → jóvenes	songs / young people
A2Plural only	one object with a plural name	Mis pantalones son nuevos.	My trousers are new.
A2Trap	-z becomes -c: lápices, veces	Tengo dos lápices.	I have two pencils.
A2Trap	gente is singular	La gente es amable.	People are friendly.

Form: -s and -esA1–A2

Noun ending	Plural	Examples	English
unstressed vowel	+ s	casa → casas / libro → libros / calle → calles	houses / books / streets
stressed -á, -é, -ó	+ s	café → cafés / sofá → sofás	coffees / sofas
consonant	+ es	ciudad → ciudades / papel → papeles / mes → meses	cities / papers / months
A2-z	z → ces	lápiz → lápices / vez → veces	pencils / times
A2-s in an unstressed syllable	no change	el lunes → los lunes / la crisis → las crisis	Mondays / crises

The article and the adjective go plural with the noun: Los zapatos nuevos son caros. — The new shoes are expensive.
A2With an unchanged noun, the article shows the number: el lunes → los lunes. Los lunes tengo clase. — I have class on Mondays.
A group of men and women takes the masculine plural: see Gender.

Spelling: the written accentA2

Change	Examples	English
-ón, -és lose the accent	canción → canciones / inglés → ingleses	songs / English people
-en stressed on the next-to-last syllable gains an accent	joven → jóvenes / examen → exámenes	young people / exams

The plural keeps the stress on the same syllable, and the written accent comes or goes to show it.
The rules of the written accent: see Sounds and Stress.

Nouns with one numberA2

Noun	Use	Example	English
las gafas	plural for one object	Mis gafas son nuevas.	My glasses are new.
los lentes, los anteojos	the same object, in much of Latin America	Mis lentes son nuevos.	My glasses are new.
los pantalones	plural for one object	Estos pantalones son caros.	These trousers are expensive.
las vacaciones	plural only	Las vacaciones empiezan en julio.	The holidays start in July.
la gente	singular, with a singular verb	La gente es muy amable.	People are very friendly.

Typical errorsA1–A2

✗	✓	Rule
A2dos lápizes	dos lápices	-z → -ces
las ciudads	las ciudades	a consonant adds -es
las casa blancas	las casas blancas	the noun goes plural too
A2las canciónes	las canciones	the plural of -ón has no accent
A2los luneses	los lunes	-s in an unstressed syllable stays the same
A2La gente son amables.	La gente es amable.	gente is singular, unlike English people

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