Plural Nouns in Spanish Grammar
- Nouns ending in a vowel
- Nouns ending in a consonant
- Special cases
- Singular or plural?
- Online exercises to improve your Spanish
- Lingolia Plus Spanish
How to form the plural of Spanish nouns
The plural form of a noun refers to multiple or more than one of something. When a noun is plural the accompanying article is also plural.
In Spanish grammar the plural ending is usually -s or -es and articles also take -s in their plural form. In general, nouns have a singular and a plural form, although this is not always the case: like in English, there are nouns that only exist in the singular (e.g. la saludhealth), and nouns that only exist in the plural (e.g. las faucesjaws).
Learn how to form the plural of Spanish nouns with Lingolia’s grammar lesson, then test yourself in the exercises below.
Example

los billetes de banco
las monedas
el dinero (no plural)
Nouns ending in a vowel
Nouns that end in a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) usually take the plural ending -s.
- Example:
- el libro → los librosthe book → the books
la mesa → las mesasthe table → the tables
If the final letter is a stressed í or ú, then we add -es.
- Example:
- el jabalí → los jabalíesthe wild boar → the wild boars
el bambú → los bambúesthe bamboo → the bamboos
Nouns ending in a consonant
Nouns that end with the consonants -d, -j, -l, -n, and -r take the plural ending -es.
- Example:
- el ordenador → los ordenadoresthe computer → the computers
- el reloj → los relojesthe clock → the clocks
A -z at the end of a word changes to -c before taking -es.
- Example:
- La cruz → las crucesthe cross → the crosses
Foreign words that end with a consonant form the plural with either -s or -es.
- Example:
- el club → los clubs/clubesthe club → the clubs
To Note
When the plural is formed by adding -es, the word gains an extra syllable. In order to keep the stress on the correct syllable, it may be necessary to add or remove an accent in some words.
- Example:
- el examen → los exámenesthe exam – the exams
la institución → las institucionesthe institution – the institutions
Special cases
Nouns that end with -s or -x and have an unstressed final syllable do not take any extra ending in the plural.
- Example:
- el cactus → los cactusthe cactus – the cacti
- el tórax → los tórax the thorax – the thoraxes
However, if the final syllable is stressed, we add -es.
- Example:
- el autobús → los autobusesthe bus → the buses
Singular or plural?
Most nouns can be used in the singular and in the plural.
- Example:
- el elefante → los elefantesthe elephant → the elephants
- la piscina → las piscinasthe swimming pool → the swimming pools
However, some nouns only exist in the singular.
- Example:
- el dineromoney
- el hambrehunger
While some nouns only exist in the plural.
- Example:
- las faucesthe jaws
- los víveressupplies
There are also nouns that have the same form in singular and plural.
- Example:
- un miércoles al mesone Wednesday a month
- todos los miércoles al mesall Wednesdays in the month
Some nouns that are only plural in English can be singular or plural in Spanish.
- Example:
- una gafa/unas gafasglasses
- una tijeras/unas tijerasscissors
- el pantalón/los pantalonestrousers