Making Spanish Nouns and Adjectives Plural

Making Spanish Nouns and Adjectives Plural If you know how to make nouns plural in English, youre close to knowing how to do so in Spanish. And once you know how to make Spanish nouns plural, you can simply follow the same rules for adjectives. Key Takeaways: Spanish Plurals The rules for making nouns plural in Spanish are similar to those of English, but Spanish has fewer exceptions.Nearly all nouns are made plural by adding s or es. The same rules are followed for adjectives.Sometimes it is necessary to add or delete an accent on the final vowel of a singular word when making it plural. The basic principle is the same: In Spanish, plurals end with the letter s, as is usually the case in English. Spanish plurals usually have an unaccented vowel preceding the s, as is often the case in English. The Basic Rule In fact, if you can remember that the Spanish plural is formed by making sure the plural word ends with s preceded by an unaccented vowel, usually e, youve taken care of nearly all of what youll have to learn. Most of whats left is learning the few exceptions as well as the spelling changes needed to make the written form of the language conform to what is spoken. The basic rule is this: If a word ends in anything other than an s preceded by an unstressed vowel, add either s or es to the end of the word so that it does. In some cases, a spelling change is needed to maintain the sound that would be needed to follow this rule. Heres how the rule is applied in various cases: Words Ending in an Unstressed Vowel When the word ends in a vowel without an accent, simply add the letter s. el libro, the book; los libros, the booksel gemelo, the twin; los gemelos, the twinsel pato, the duck; los patos, the ducks Nouns Ending in a Stressed Vowel A few nouns have a single syllable ending in a vowel or have multiple syllables and end in an accented vowel. In standard or formal writing, simply add the letters es. el tisà º, the tissue, los tisà ºes, the tissuesel hindà º, the Hindu, los hindà ºes, the Hindusel yo, the id; los yoes, the ids In everyday speech, however, it is common for such words to be made plural simply by adding s. Thus it would not be uncommon to hear someone talk about hindà ºs. Words Ending in a Consonant As is common in English, nouns ending in a consonant are made plural by adding es. el escultor; the sculptor; los escultores, the sculptorsla sociedad, the society; las sociedades, the societiesel azul, the blue one; los azules, the blue onesel mes, the month; los meses, the months Y is treated as a consonant for this rule: la ley, the law; las leyes, the laws. Words Ending in S Preceded by an Unstressed Vowel The plural form is the same as the singular form for nouns ending in an unstressed vowel followed by s. el lunes, Monday; los lunes, Mondaysel rompecabezas, the puzzle; los rompecabezas, the puzzlesla crisis, the crisis; las crisis, the crises The Exceptions Exceptions to the above rules are few. Here are the most common ones: Words Ending in É Words ending in a stressed e or à © simply need an s at the end: el cafà ©, the coffeehouse; los cafà ©s, the coffeehousesla fe, the faith; las fes, the faiths Foreign Words Some foreign words maintain the pluralization rules of the originating language. It is also very common to simply add an s to make plural words foreign regardless of what the originating language does. los jeans, the jeansel camping, the campground; los campings, campgroundsel curriculum vitae, the rà ©sumà ©; los curricula vitae, the rà ©sumà ©sel spam, a spam email or article; los spams, spam emails or articles Specific Exceptions A few words simply dont follow the rules. el pap, the father; los paps, the fathersla mam, the mother, las mams, the mothersel sof, the couch, los sofs, the couches Orthographic Changes Changes in either spelling or accents are needed sometimes due to the phonetic nature of the Spanish language. The rules above still apply - you just need to make sure a plural word is spelled the way it is pronounced, or that it is spelled according to Spanish convention. Here are the orthographic changes sometimes required: Nouns Ending in Z The z changes to c when followed by es: el pez, the fish; los peces, the fishes;el juez, the judge; los jueces, the judges Nouns Ending in an Accented vowel followed by S or N The written accent isnt needed in pluralizing a noun ending in a vowel followed by s or n. el interà ©s, the interest; los intereses, the interestsel francà ©s, the Frenchman, los franceses, the Frenchmenel avià ³n, the airplane; los aviones, the airplanes Nouns Ending in N in an Unstressed Syllable: But an accent is needed when a noun ending in an unstressed vowel and n is made plural: el examen, the exam; los exmenes, the examsel crimen, the crime; los crà ­menes, the crimes