Portuguese Plural

30 de October de 2017

What’s up! Tudo bem? In today’s free Portuguese lesson we are going to talk about the Portuguese plural.Β 

Plural in Portuguese

The Portuguese plural can be a little tricky, but don’t worry because we are here to help you! Studying Portuguese with us will make sure you understand how to speak in the plural form. For every plural word there are different rules, so we will be looking at each one of them. But first take a look at this table:

Ending in Change to Add
vowel -s
-Γ£o -Γ£os -Γ£es -Γ΅es
-s -es
-r -z -n -es
-m -ns
-al -el -ol -ul -l to -is
-il -es or -eis

Plural forΒ words ending with a vowel

Let’s start with plural words ending in a, e, i, o, u. The rule is simple: If the word ends in a vowel and it’s singular, just adding an S at the end of the word makes it plural.Β 

Casa Casas House Houses
PΓ© PΓ©s Foot Feet
AΓ§aΓ­ AΓ§aΓ­s AΓ§aΓ­ AΓ§aΓ­s
Corpo Corpos Body Bodies
RΓ©u RΓ©us Defendant Defendants

Plural forΒ words ending in R

If a word ends inΒ R, justΒ add -ES at end.

Professor Professores Teacher Teachers
Ator Atores Actor Actors
Cantor Cantores Singer Singers
Sabor Sabores Taste / Flavor Tastes / Flavors
Amor Amores Love Love

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Plural for words ending inΒ Z

Similarly to the rulesΒ previously mentioned, if a words ends with aΒ -Z, then we must addΒ -ES at the end.

Gravidez Gravidezes Pregnancy Pregnancies
Raiz RaΓ­zes Root Roots
Matriz Matrizes Headquarter Headquarters
Rapaz Rapazes Boy Boys
Nariz Narizes Nose Noses

Portuguese plural for words ending in -M

When a word ends with anΒ -M, to make it plural we must replaceΒ -M with -NS.

Homem Homens Man Men
GarΓ§om GarΓ§ons Waiter Waiters
Trem Trens Train Trains
Imagem Imagens Image Images
Garagem Garagens Garage Garages

 

Portuguese plural for words ending in L

There are two types of plurals for words ending with an L. If the word ends inΒ -al, -el, -il, -ol, -ulΒ and the tonic syllable is in the end then we switch -L for -is.

Animal Animais Animal Animals
Fiel Fieis Loyal Loyal
Barril Barris Barrel Barrels
Farol FarΓ³is Lighthouse Lighthouses
Azul Azuis Blue Blue

For words ending in -il that have a previous syllable with an accent mark, then there is change between -il to -eis.

RΓ©ptil RΓ©pteis Repitile Repitiles
FΓ©rtil FΓ©rteis Fertile Fertile
TΓͺxtil TΓͺxteis Textile Textiles

Plural for words ending in S

We also have two rules for words ending with the letter S. If the word has an accent in the first syllable, nothing happens, basically the word stays the same.

Γ”nibus Γ”nibus Bus Buses
LΓ‘pis LΓ‘pis Pencil Pencils
BΓ΄nus BΓ΄nus Bonus Bonuses

If the words have an accent in the ending syllable, then we add anΒ -ES.Β After becoming a plural word, the accent mark is taken away.

FrancΓͺs Franceses French French
CamponΓͺs Camponeses Peasant Peasants
NorueguΓͺs Noruegueses Norwegian Norwegian
InglΓͺs Ingleses English English
FreguΓͺs Fregueses Customer Customers

To help you a little more, here’s a tip: if the word ends in -S and is a monosyllable, to make the plural you’ll just add -ES.

MΓͺs Meses Month Months

Portuguese plural for words ending in -X

The words ending in -X also don’t vary in the plural form, they stay the same.

Latex Latex Latex Latex
XΓ©rox XΓ©rox XΓ©rox XΓ©rox
Pirex Pirex Pirex Pirex

Portuguese plural for words ending in -ΓƒO

In the past we are explained to you about the plural os words ending in -Γ£o. The words are made plural in various ways, depending on the rules that apply. Check all the rules in our old Dica about this.Β 

PΓ£o PΓ£es Bread Bread
AlemΓ£o AlemΓ£es German German
CapitΓ£o CapitΓ£es Captain Captains
Γ“rgΓ£o Γ“rgΓ£os Organ Organs
IrmΓ£o IrmΓ£os Brother Brothers
CidadΓ£o CidadΓ£os Citizen Citizens
EstaΓ§Γ£o EstaΓ§Γ΅es Station Stations
LimΓ£o LimΓ΅es Lemon Lemons
RazΓ£o RazΓ΅es Reason Reasons

Portuguese plural for words ending in -zinho/a

The words that end in -zinho/a are diminutive forms of some word. To turn them into the plural form you just add -S at the end too. Don’t remember your Portuguese lesson about diminutive? Check out our Dica about this and see that the diminutives don’t express only little things.

Viagenzinha Viagenzinhas Little trip Little trips
IrmΓ£ozinho IrmΓ£ozinhos Little brother Little brothers
MΓ£ezinha MΓ£ezinhas Dear mother Dear mothers
Cidadezinha Cidadezinhas Little city Little cities

Portuguese plural for compound nouns

When we have compound nouns the plural form can vary too. The compound words that don’t have a hyphen follow the same rules as the simple nouns.

Aguardente Aguardentes Spirit Spirits
AeromoΓ§o AeromoΓ§os Flight AttendantΒ  Flight Attendants
Girassol GirassΓ³is Sunflower Sunflowers

However, if the compound word has an hyphen, the rules change. If the word if formed by a noun+adjective or noun+number both of them are going into the plural form.

Quinta-feira Quintas-feiras Thursday Thursdays
Gentil-homem Gentis-homens Kind man Kind men

Palavra-chave Palavras-chave or Palavras-chaves Keyword Keywords Couve-flor Couves-flor or Couves-flores Cauliflower Cauliflowers Bomba-relΓ³gio Bombas-relΓ³gio or Bombas-relΓ³gios Time bomb Time bombs

If the compound word is formed by a verb+noun, just the noun goes into the plural:

Guarda-roupa Guarda-roupas Wardrobe Wardrobes
Guarda-sol Guarda-sΓ³is Parasol Parasols
Guarda-chuva Guarda-chuvas Umbrella Umbrellas

If the compound form has a preposition with it, to form the plural you put only the first word in the plural.

Água-de-colônia Águas-de-colônia Cologne Cologne
PΓ©-de-moleque PΓ©s-de-moleque

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