Portuguese Plural Nouns

Learn how to form plural nouns in Portuguese

 

Need more Portuguese? Try the Portuguese courses at Udemy, the audio and video lessons at Portuguesepod101.com, and the Portuguese Interlinear book (with English translations below the Portuguese text)

---

19. Portuguese Plural Nouns

There are four main ways to form plural nouns in Portuguese:

1. Words that end in -l : drop the l and put -is if the word does not have an i before the l. If it has an e you change it to é to make the same sound.

pastel (pastry) - pastéis

2. Words that end in -ão : it has no rule. Sometimes you change it to -ões or -ães, or just add -s, depending on the word. It's better to memorize the plural when you learn the word.

coração (heart) - corações

mão (hand) - mãos

cão (dog) - cães

3. Words that end in -s or -z : have no plural form, so the singular and plural are the same.

ônibus (bus)

óculos (glasses)

arroz (rice)

4. All other words : just add an -s.

pêra (pear) - pêras

maçã (apple) - maçãs

guaraná (soda) - guaranás

---