Tell Me, What Is The Plural Of 'canción'?

Introduction

This post is about plurals in general and more specifically the plural of words ending in a consonant, except -s or -z.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague. Maybe you are studying Spanish together. The other person appears to have a doubt about the plural of a Spanish noun or adjective and says to you something like:: "tell me, what is the plural of 'canción'?".

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say to you:

Dime, ¿cuál es el plural de 'canción'?

On the other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say to you:

Dígame, ¿cuál es el plural de 'canción'?

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OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to state the plural form of a Spanish noun or adjective. When you state the plural form of a Spanish noun or adjective, you do not need to be concerned about the level of formality in the other person's question. Your main concern should be about communicating the plural of the Spanish word in question.

Here are some examples of how you could reply:

• El plural de 'canción' es canciones* (the plural of 'canción' is 'canciones');
• Creo que el plural de 'canción' es canciones* (I believe the plural of 'canción' is 'canciones');
• Me parece que el plural de 'canción' es canciones* (I think the plural of 'canción' is 'canciones');

Now you should practise replying to someone who says to you:

Dime, ¿cuál es el plural de 'canción'?

*Please see grammar topic below- plurals/ words ending in consonant (except -s or -z)

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Grammar-Plurals

Summary Introduction

Spanish plurals are summarised in table 1 below.

Singular		Plural
casa	house	casas	houses
rubí	rubi	rubíes/ rubís	rubis
canción	song	canciones	songs
compás	rhythm/ beat	compases	rhythms/ beats
crisis	crisis	crisis	crisis
voz	voice	voces	voices

Table 1 – Spanish Plurals

For further details on Spanish plurals, see below

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Spanish Plurals

Forming the plural of a given Spanish word depends mainly on whether the word ends in a vowel or a consonant.

• The plural of a word ending in a vowel is formed by just adding an -s to the singular form of the word in question.
• The plural of a word ending in a consonant is formed by adding -es to the singular form of the word in question.

Examples of the use of these basic rules along with the main exceptions are outlined in the notes below.

1. Words Ending In A Vowel (except stressed -í or -ú)*

Examples of plurals of words in this group are:

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
casa	casas	house	houses
llave	llaves	key	keys
taxi	taxis	taxi	taxis
pato	patos	duck	ducks
tribu	tribus	tribe	tribes
mamá	mamás	mum	mums
comité	comités	committee	committees
dominó	dominós	domino	dominoes

*NB Exceptions to this group are the words ending in stressed -í or -ú which are considered in 2 below.

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2. Words Ending In Stressed Vowels -í or -ú

Examples of plurals of words in this group are:

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
rubí	rubíes/ rubís*	ruby	rubies
tabú	tabúes/ tabús*	taboo	taboos
israelí	israelíes/ israelís*	Israeli	Israelis
sí	síes	yes	yes

*NB It should be noted that the plurals resulting from simply adding an -s to the singular of these words are often considered a less 'polished' form of Spanish language.

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3. Words Ending In A Consonant (except -s or -z)*

Examples of plurals of words in this group are:

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
pared	paredes	wall	walls
cárcel	cárceles	jail	jails
papel	papeles	paper	papers
certamen	certámenes**	contest	contests
pantalón	pantalones***	trouser	trousers
color	colores	colour	colours
rey	reyes	king	kings

*NB Exceptions are considered in 4 and 5 below.

**NB Some words gain an accent in their plural form.

***NB Some words loose the accent in their plural form.

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4.- Words Ending In The Consonant -s

There are two groups of words in this category:

• Words ending in -s with the stress on the last syllable. Examples of plurals of words in this group are:

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
compás	compases*	rhythm/ beat	rhythms/ beats
francés	franceses*	French (singular)	French (plural)
inglés	ingleses*	English (singular)	English (plural)

*NB Words with an accent in their singular form loose it in the plural form.

• Words ending in -s with the stress not on the last syllable. Examples of plurals of words in this group are:

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
crisis	crisis	crisis	crisis
lunes	lunes	Monday	Mondays
viernes	viernes	Friday	Fridays
miércoles	miércoles	Wednesday	Wednesdays

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5.- Words Ending In The Consonant -z

Examples of plurals of words in this group are:

Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
voz	voces	voice	voices
coz	coces	kick (horse)	kicks (horse)
precoz	precoces	precocious (singular)	precocious (plural)
veloz	veloces	speedy (singular)	speedy (plural)

Now you should practise the use of plurals with some examples of your own.

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