I can make the plural of any Spanish noun and put the right article in front of it — el, la, los, or las.
One and many: the word and the article
el, la, los, las
Unlike English “the”, the Spanish article shows gender and number and changes with the noun. So learn every noun with its article: not “libro” but el libro.
The plural:
• a word ending in a vowel adds s: el libro → los libros, la mesa → las mesas;
• a word ending in a consonant adds es: el hotel → los hoteles, la ciudad → las ciudades;
• a word ending in z changes it to ces: el lápiz → los lápices.
If a word ends in -ús with an accent mark, the mark disappears in the plural: el autobús → los autobuses. The stress hasn't moved: the word now ends in -s, so by the rule the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable anyway.
English nouns have no gender, so learn it with the word: la clase, but el coche — both end in -e.
A noun as the subject takes the article: Las mesas son de la profesora. But what someone has often goes without one, where English says “a”: Teresa tiene coche (Teresa has a car).
Common mistakes:
• NOT “los ciudades” — correct: las ciudades; the gender stays the same in the plural.
• NOT “los hotels” — correct: los hoteles.
• NOT “los lápizes” — correct: los lápices.
• NOT “la coche” — correct: el coche.
• NOT “Mesas son de la profesora” — correct: Las mesas son de la profesora.
The article and the plural
The article changes with the word: el → los, la → las.
| One | Many | What happens | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ends in a vowel | el libro | los libros | + s |
| ends in a vowel | la mesa | las mesas | + s |
| ends in a consonant | el hotel | los hoteles | + es |
| ends in a consonant | la ciudad | las ciudades | + es |
| ends in -z | el lápiz | los lápices | z → ces |
| with an accent mark | el autobús | los autobuses | the accent mark disappears |
Lesson notes
el, la, los, las
Unlike English “the”, the Spanish article shows gender and number and changes with the noun. So learn every noun with its article: not “libro” but el libro.
The plural:
• a word ending in a vowel adds s: el libro → los libros, la mesa → las mesas;
• a word ending in a consonant adds es: el hotel → los hoteles, la ciudad → las ciudades;
• a word ending in z changes it to ces: el lápiz → los lápices.
If a word ends in -ús with an accent mark, the mark disappears in the plural: el autobús → los autobuses. The stress hasn't moved: the word now ends in -s, so by the rule the stress falls on the second-to-last syllable anyway.
English nouns have no gender, so learn it with the word: la clase, but el coche — both end in -e.
A noun as the subject takes the article: Las mesas son de la profesora. But what someone has often goes without one, where English says “a”: Teresa tiene coche (Teresa has a car).
Common mistakes:
• NOT “los ciudades” — correct: las ciudades; the gender stays the same in the plural.
• NOT “los hotels” — correct: los hoteles.
• NOT “los lápizes” — correct: los lápices.
• NOT “la coche” — correct: el coche.
• NOT “Mesas son de la profesora” — correct: Las mesas son de la profesora.