How To Make Nouns Plural in Portuguese

Here are some rules for forming plural nouns in Brazilian Portuguese:

Words ending in vowels
Just add an “s.”

janela –> janelas [window -> windows]

cotovelo –> cotovelos [elbow -> elbows]

jacaré –> jacarés [crocodile -> crocodiles}

 

2. Words ending in “r” “s” or “z”
Add an “es.”

cor–> cores [color -> colors]

mês –> meses [month -> months]*

chafariz –> chafrizes [fountain -> fountains]

*note that the circumflex disappears in the plural

 

Words that are always plural

os parabéns [congratulations]

as costas   [back] of body

os óculos   [eyeglasses]

as férias  [vacation]

 

Words ending in al

With these nouns, the al changes to ais.

sinal –> sinais  [stoplight -> stoplights]

capital –> capitais  [capital -> capitals]

moral –> morais  [moral –> morals]

 

Words ending in el

Here, el becomes éis.

papel –> papéis  [paper -> papers]

anel –> anéis  [ring -> rings]

hotel –> hoteis [hotel -> hotels]

 

Words ending in il

These nouns change their endings to is.

funil –> funis  [funnel –> funnels]

barril –> barris [barrel –> barrels]

 

Words ending in ol

These nouns have their endings changed to óis.

lençol –> lençóis

farol –> faróis

 

When a noun ends in “ão,” there are different rules for how to make it plural, and it is simply a matter of memorization to remember which nouns have which rule.

 

1. ão to ãos
irmão –> irmãos  [brother -> brothers]

mão –> mãos  [hand -> hands]

 

2. ão to ães
cão –> cães  [dog -> dogs]

pão –> pães  [bread -> bread (plural)]

alemão –> alemães [German –> Germans]

3. ão to ões
organização –> organizações  [organization -> organizations]

gavião –> gaviões  [hawk -> hawks]

avião –> aviões  [airplane -> airplanes]

 

Also, nouns that end with “em” change to ens.

nuvem –> nuvens  [cloud -> clouds]

bem –> bens  [good -> goods]

trem –> trens  [train -> trains]

 

Dropping the Plural in Brazilian Portuguese

Informal speech in Brazil may avoid the plural altogether by using “a gente” – for we, and “todo mundo” – the entire world/everyone,  for they. Both forms use 3rd person singular.

It is also becoming common in colloquial or slang Portuguese to hear people dropping the final –s on plural nouns as it happens in French. For example: as casas – the houses, becomes “as casa.” This way of speaking is not at all considered to be good grammar, however it is becoming more and more common, especially I have found, in Rio de Janeiro. In very poor areas, favelas, you will hardly hear any pluralized nouns, only the prefixes “as” or “os” give away that the word is supposed to be plural.