Danish Plurals
Danish has several ways to form plurals. The most common patterns are -er and -e, but some nouns change their vowel and others don’t change at all.
No rule tells you for certain which pattern a noun takes, so learn the plural with the noun, the same way you learn en or et. A few endings narrow it down.
- -er: a car → carsSingularbilbecomesNounbilEnding-er
- -e: a day → daysSingulardagbecomesNoundagEnding-e
- No ending: a thing → thingsSingulartingbecomesNountingEnding–
- Vowel change: a child → childrenSingularbarnbecomesNew formbørn
Most nouns add -er or -e. Some add nothing, and a few change their vowel.
Common patterns
| Singular | Plural | Pattern | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| en bil | biler | -er | cars |
| en bog | bøger | Vowel change + -er | books |
| en dag | dage | -e | days |
| et barn | børn | Vowel change | children |
| en ting | ting | No ending | things |
| et hus | huse | -e | houses |
-er or -e?
For most one-syllable nouns you have to learn the ending: biler but dage, huse but steder. These patterns help, though each has exceptions.
| When the noun … | Then | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ends in an unstressed -e | add only -r | skoler · æbler · piger |
| ends in -hed, -tion or -ing | add -er | muligheder · stationer · regninger |
| is a person ending in -er | add -e | lærere · danskere |
Before either ending, the spelling can change:
| When the noun … | Then | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| has a short vowel + one consonant | usually double the consonant (not -r: døre) | katte · kopper · busser |
| ends in an unstressed -el | drop that e | cykler · onkler |
No ending
Some nouns look the same in the plural. There’s no safe rule for which ones, so learn them as you meet them. A number or a word like mange (many) shows that it’s plural: to år, mange glas.
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| en ting | ting | things |
| et år | år | years |
| et tog | tog | trains |
| et glas | glas | glasses |
| en sko | sko | shoes |
| et æg | æg | eggs |
| et kort | kort | cards |
Vowel changes and other irregular plurals
A small group of very common nouns change their vowel. Some also add an ending, some don’t. Many are words for people and the body, so you’ll need them early.
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| en mand | mænd | men |
| et barn | børn | children |
| en bog | bøger | books |
| en hånd | hænder | hands |
| en fod | fødder | feet |
| en nat | nætter | nights |
| en bror | brødre | brothers |
| et øje | øjne | eyes |
When to use it
Mostly as in English: for more than one, after a number above one, and after words like mange (many), nogle (some), flere (more) and alle (all).
- Jeg har to børn.I have two children.
- Vi har mange gæster i aften.We have a lot of guests tonight.
- Der er nogle æbler i køleskabet.There are some apples in the fridge.
biler or bilerne?
Don’t mix up the plural with “the” in the plural. biler is “cars”; bilerne is “the cars”. For “the”, start from the plural and add -ne, or -ene when the plural has no ending of its own. Plurals in -ere drop their last -e first: lærere → lærerne. With an adjective, de goes in front and the noun keeps its plain plural: de nye biler.
| Plural | The (plural) | English |
|---|---|---|
| biler | bilerne | the cars |
| huse | husene | the houses |
| lærere | lærerne | the teachers |
| børn | børnene | the children |
| ting | tingene | the things |
Common mistakes
Wrong:
bogerRight:bøger
Bog changes its vowel in the plural, and adds -er.
Wrong:
manderRight:mænd
Mand is irregular: the vowel changes and no ending is added.
Wrong:
barnerRight:børn
Barn is irregular: the plural is børn.
Wrong:
tingerRight:ting
Ting has no plural ending: the plural looks like the singular.
Wrong:
de nye bilerneRight:de nye biler
With an adjective, de goes in front and the noun keeps its plain plural.
Try it
Try itTest yourself on plurals