PORTUGUESE PLURAL

Hello Everybody! In continuation of this series I will show you basic topics about Portuguese plural.

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Image by Neil Turner (CC BY 2.0) Uma laranja.

Image by Terry Whalebone (CC BY 2.0) Muitas laranjas.

As you can see in the pictures above, is very important to know how to express your ideas in the plural form. In Portuguese the plural form is not so hard, in terms of number to a noun, there is only singular and plural. You just need to memorize some simple little rules. Let's see those rules and their examples:

As in English, we tend to create plural nouns in Portuguese by adding an "S". This is general rule: for words ending in vowels you just need to add "S" in the end of the word.

Could you observe the oranges's images again? That was the rule applied, because "laranja" [orange] ends in a vowel. Note that any article or adjective must agree with plural of the noun too. See more examples:

Carro - carros (car)
Mesa - mesas (table)
Cama - camas (bed)
Tia - tias (aunt)
Caderno - cadernos (notebook)
Pé - pés (foot)

Now let's see the other rules...


Words ending in "AO"

There are 3 alternatives to plural form of words ending in "ão":

Change "ão" for "ões"
Avião – Aviões [airplane – airplanes]
Questão - Questões [question - questions]

Change "ão" for "ães"
Pão - Pães [bread – breads]
Alemão - Alemães [German – Germans]

Change "ão" for "ãos"
Irmão - Irmãos [brother - brothers]
Mão - Mãos [hand – hands]


Words ending in "L"

To words ending in  "al", "el", "il", "ol" or "ul" you need to change the "l" for "is"

Animal – Animais [animal - animals]
Capital - Capitais [capital - capitals]
Papel - Papéis [paper - papers]
Funil - Funis [filler - fillers]
Anzol - Anzóis [hook - hooks]
Azul - Azuis [blue - blue]


Words ending in "M"

To words ending "m" you need to change the "m" for "ns"

Nuvem - Nuvens [cloud – clouds]
Trem - Trens [train – trains]


Words ending in "R", "S" or "Z"
To these words you just need to add "es"

Cobertor - Cobertores [blanket – blankets]
Mês - Meses [month – months]
Luz - Luzes [light – lights]

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