Portuguese Plural

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

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
-en		-s
vowel		-s
-ão	-ãos -ães -ões
-s		-es
-r -z -n		-es
-m	-ns
-al -el -ol -ul	-l to -is
-il	-es or -eis

Plural for 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. 

Casa	Casas	House	Houses
Pé	Pés	Foot	Feet
Açaí	Açaís	Açaí	Açaís
Corpo	Corpos	Body	Bodies
Réu	Réus	Defendant	Defendants

Plural for words ending in R

If a word ends in R, just 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

Plural for words ending in Z

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

Gravidez	Gravidezes	Pregnancy	Pregnancies
Raiz	Raízes	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 an -M, to make it plural we must replace -M with -NS.

Homem	Homens	Man	Men
Garçom	Garçons	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 in -al, -el, -il, -ol, -ul 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	Faróis	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.

Réptil	Répteis	Repitile	Repitiles
Fértil	Férteis	Fertile	Fertile
Têxtil	Têxteis	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.

Ônibus	Ônibus	Bus	Buses
Lápis	Lápis	Pencil	Pencils
Bônus	Bônus	Bonus	Bonuses

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

Francês	Franceses	French	French
Camponês	Camponeses	Peasant	Peasants
Norueguês	Noruegueses	Norwegian	Norwegian
Inglês	Ingleses	English	English
Freguês	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.

Mês

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
Xérox	Xérox	Xérox	Xérox
Pirex	Pirex	Pirex	Pirex

Portuguese plural for words ending in -ÃO

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

Pão	Pães	Bread	Bread
Alemão	Alemães	German	German
Capitão	Capitães	Captain	Captains
Órgão	Órgãos	Organ	Organs
Irmão	Irmãos	Brother	Brothers
Cidadão	Cidadãos	Citizen	Citizens
Estação	Estações	Station	Stations
Limão	Limões	Lemon	Lemons
Razão	Razões	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
Irmãozinho	Irmãozinhos	Little brother	Little brothers
Mãezinha	Mãezinhas	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
Aeromoço	Aeromoços	Flight Attendant	Flight Attendants
Girassol	Girassóis	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

Notice that cavalo-vapor follows the same rule because it has a hidden preposition. And the word pé-de-moleque doesn’t have a translation because it’s the name of a popular candy in Brazil.

That’s it!
Now we know about the plural in Portuguese, all that is left is to use what we have learned. If you have any questions or doubts, tweet us!

Until the next Dica!

Bye!

           
Click on the links below to see more related Dicas
Plural of words ending in vowels
Plural of the words ending in L
Plural of the words ending in ÃO
Words ending in Ção in Portuguese