In many languages, you can talk about multiple instances of the same object at once by using the plural form. Dutch is no different, and while it’s not as easy a rule as it is in some other languages, there are some things to it that will allow you to know what you’re doing, at least in some cases. And you’ll be able to do just that when you’re done reading this post about the Dutch meervoud.
In English, forming the plural of a noun is often as easy as slapping an -s at the end of the word. Dutch also uses this form, although it’s only one of the two common forms of meervoud, the other being plurals ending in -en. Which one you have to use can be a bit tricky to determine, but there are some rules for it (and, of course, a lot of exceptions to them).
-en
-en is the most common of the two suffixes. Let’s start off with the main issue here: there isn’t really a rule to determine whether a noun should get the -en suffix. It’s mostly a matter of Probably, unless…, which, granted, isn’t much of a rule at all.
It is more common than the -s, though, so if you find yourself in a 50-50 situation, using -en is probaby your best bet.
Moreover, the Dutch wouldn’t be the Dutch if they hadn’t come up with a few oddities about the use of -en, too. Here’s the main three, although I won’t dive overly deep into them in this particular post. They all have to do with pronunciation in one way or another.
Single consonants in the last syllable often get doubled in the plural form to keep the short vowel sound intact:
tak – takken (Eng: branches)
Long vowel sounds in the last syllable that are written as a double vowel in the singular form, often lose their twin sibling in the plural form, simply because it’s not necessary anymore for correct pronunciation:
boom – bomen (Eng: trees)
Words that end in an s in the singular form can end up having a z instead in the plural form, turning it from a voiceless consonant into a voiced consonant. The same can happen with f and v:
huis – huizen (Eng: houses)
dief – dieven (Eng: thieves) – Hey! You guys do it too!
While these are kind of exceptions to the rule, they do happen a lot, enough so that I might do a full post about it some time in the near future.
-s
While the rules about the -s in Dutch plurals aren’t by any means airtight either, at least there are some things to hold onto. If the last syllable of a word is a non-emphasized e sound, such as in tafel (Eng: table) or letter (Eng: letter/character), the plural almost always gets an -s: tafels or letters (technically, letteren is also a plural of letter, but it means something like the collection of topics about language and related subjects, mostly in university studies, or the collective works of literature of a nation. Pretty big things).
This is also the case for words ending in a long vowel, without an additional consonant to wrap up the word. When this is the case, something else happens to help with pronunciation: an apostrophe is added:
radio – radio’s (Eng: radios)
Over the years, I have found this “plural apostrophe” in English texts and messages as well, but I’ve always been taught this is almost always incorrect, and therefore shouldn’t be used. In Dutch, however, it’s mandatory in the case described above. Because this is purely a pronunciation thing (the o in radios would otherwise be pronounced as a short vowel rather than a long one), this rule doesn’t apply to words that already have their own pronunciation built in:
café – cafés (Eng: pubs)
Most loan words also get an -s when a word is turned into a plural, as do most diminutives – more on that last one can be found in the post about verkleinwoordjes. The same is true for most abbreviations, which also often get a plural apostrophe to help with pronunciation.
Irregular plurals
Just like irregular verbs, the Dutch also have some irregular plurals. These are words that experience a sound change when they are turned into a plural. There are virtually no rules for when this occurs, but it felt like it should be mentioned anyway:
stad – steden (Eng: cities)
lid – leden (Eng: members)
There is another strange contraption that occurs only in a handful of words, but those words happen to be quite common ones, and so they are still worth a mention. They are a form of double plurals, with the modern Dutch using older local forms that were already considered plural by their users, and then applying the standard rules. This happens, for example, in the words ei and kind:
ei – eieren (Eng: eggs)
kind – kinderen (Eng: children)
These are the two most notable examples, so it might be a good idea to learn them by heart.
Long stories short
Dutch plurals come mainly in two varieties. While -en is most widely used, there are virtually no rules for when to use it. It also forces you to deal with added, removed, or changing letters. -s does have some basic rules to it, but there are also a lot of exceptions. On top of that, there are some irregular plurals that seem to make no sense at all, and which you’ll just have to know from the top of your head.
The only actual solution is to speak Dutch as much as possible and to listen and read as much as you can. Over time, you’ll see you’ll develop a feel for it. Until then, try to kick your habit of throwing an -s in the mix all the time, and give -en a chance – or, if you feel like it, multiple kansen.
