Nouns and plurals

Spanish plurals are regular and easy to predict: most nouns add -s or -es. The article changes too: el becomes los, and la becomes las. A few spelling and accent changes come along, and some nouns have no plural or exist only in the plural.

Add -s After a Vowel

If the noun ends in a vowel, add -s. This includes vowels with a written accent:

Add -es After a Consonant

If the noun ends in a consonant, add -es:

Nouns ending in -y also add -es: el rey (king) becomes los reyes, la ley (law) becomes las leyes.

Z Becomes C

Spanish doesn’t normally write z before e. So when a noun ends in -z, the z changes to c before adding -es. The sound stays the same:

• la vez (time, occasion) becomes las veces
• la luz (light) becomes las luces
• el pez (fish) becomes los peces
• la nariz (nose) becomes las narices

Accent Changes

The stress stays on the same syllable in the plural, but the extra syllable can add or remove a written accent. (The guide on stress and written accents explains why.)

Nouns that end in a stressed syllable with -n or -s lose their accent:

• la canción (song) becomes las canciones
• el jardín (garden) becomes los jardines
• el autobús (bus) becomes los autobuses

Nouns ending in -en that are stressed on the next-to-last syllable gain an accent:

• el joven (young man) becomes los jóvenes
• el examen (exam) becomes los exámenes

An accent that splits two vowels always stays: el país (country) becomes los países.

Nouns That Don’t Change

Nouns that end in an unstressed syllable with -s stay the same in the plural. Only the article shows the number:

• el lunes / los lunes - Monday / Mondays (all weekdays from lunes to viernes work this way)
• la crisis / las crisis - crisis / crises
• el cumpleaños / los cumpleaños - birthday / birthdays

Compare el mes / los meses: mes is a single stressed syllable, so it adds -es as usual.

Singular-Only and Plural-Only Nouns

Some nouns name things you don’t usually count, and are almost always singular: la sed (thirst), la salud (health), la leche (milk).

La gente (people) is singular in Spanish even though it means a group, so the verb is singular too: La gente es amable. - People are kind.

Other nouns are normally plural, even for one thing:

• las vacaciones - vacation
• los pantalones - pants (el pantalón is also common)
• los lentes - glasses (in much of Latin America)

Mixed Groups

A masculine plural can mean a group of men and women together:

• los padres - parents (or fathers)
• los hermanos - brothers and sisters, siblings
• los hijos - children, sons and daughters
• los abuelos - grandparents

So Tengo dos hijos can mean "I have two sons" or "I have a son and a daughter".