-s or -en? Choosing the Dutch plural

Dutch has two main plural endings, -en and -s, and for any given noun only one of them is usually correct: de boeken (the books) but de tafels (the tables). This page is about how to guess right when you meet a new noun.

Assume a noun takes -en, and switch to -s only for a short list of endings and word types. A useful test is stress: if the last syllable is unstressed, the noun leans toward -s; if the word is one syllable or ends in a stressed syllable, it leans toward -en. Dutch avoids ending a word on two weak 'uh' syllables, which is why ta-fel becomes ta-fels, not ta-fe-len.

Take -s in these cases:

• Unstressed endings -el, -em, -en, -er, -erd: de sleutel → de sleutels (key), de bodem → de bodems (bottom), de deken → de dekens (blanket), de winkel → de winkels (shop).
• Diminutives in -je, always: het broodje → de broodjes (bread roll), het huisje → de huisjes (little house).
• Words ending in an unstressed -ie: de familie → de families (family), de vakantie → de vakanties (holiday).
• Single vowels a, o, u, i, y, which take -'s: de auto → de auto's (car), de baby → de baby's (baby).
• Borrowed words that already form their plural with -s in the source language: de garage → de garages, de tram → de trams (tram).
• Stressed endings -eur and -foon: de monteur → de monteurs (mechanic), de telefoon → de telefoons (telephone).

Everything else takes -en. That includes almost all one-syllable words and words ending in a stressed syllable:

Some nouns accept -s and -en, with the -en form usually sounding more formal or more written and the -s form more everyday.

• de aardappel → de aardappels or de aardappelen (potato); de appel → de appels or de appelen (apple).
• Nouns in -te: de ziekte → de ziektes or de ziekten (illness); de gemeente → de gemeentes or de gemeenten (municipality).
• Agent nouns in -aar: in the Netherlands these often take -en — de leraar → de leraren (teacher), de eigenaar → de eigenaren (owner), de ambtenaar → de ambtenaren (civil servant) — although -s also occurs.

A separate group changes the word itself rather than just the ending (het kind → de kinderen, de stad → de steden, het museum → de musea). Those live in irregular and foreign plurals.

English speakers tend to add -s everywhere, because English has almost only -s. Most Dutch nouns take -en, so boeks, huizes and stoels are wrong — they are boeken, huizen, stoelen. When in doubt, default to -en and reserve -s for the endings listed above.