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What is it?

Plural basically means more than one: cars, flowers, etc.

The Rules

In plural the noun classes Common and Neuter have no apparent significance so we can ignore these for now.

Danish nouns come in different shapes when in plural!
Plural IndefinitePlural Definite
#1[noun] + (e)r [noun] + (e)rne
#2 [noun] + e [noun] + (e)ne
#3 [noun]
#4 [noun] + s

  • Most nouns, around 70%, add (e)r and (e)rne in plural, however, a lot don't!
  • Around 20% leaves out the 'r' only adding the e / (e)ne
  • Circa 10% has no ending in Plural Indefinite at all(!)
  • And then a small group of nouns add an s like drinks or høns (chickens)

There is no clear pattern to when the noun leaves out the 'r' in plural and the best way to learn is repetition, repetion!!!

Examples

#1. [noun] + er / erne

Singular IndefiniteSingular DefinitePlural IndefinitePlural Definite
en bilbilen
biler
bilerne
a carthe carcarsthe cars
en blomstblomsten
blomster
blomsterne
a flowerthe flowerflowersthe flowers
et trætræet
træer
træerne
a treethe treetreesthe trees
et billedebilledet
billeder
billederne
a picturethe picturepicturesthe pictures

#2. [noun] + e / ene

Singular IndefiniteSingular DefinitePlural IndefinitePlural Definite
en stolstolen
stole
stolene
a chairthe chairchairsthe chairs
en hundhunden
hunde
hundene
a dogthe dogdogsthe dogs
et hushuset
huse
husene
a housethe househousesthe houses
et bordbordet
borde
bordene
a tablethe tabletablesthe tables

#3. [noun] + [ ]/ene

Singular IndefiniteSingular DefinitePlural IndefinitePlural Definite
et åråret
år
årene
a yearthe yearyearsthe years
et ægægget
æg
æggene
a eggthe eggeggthe eggs
et fårfåret
får
fårene
a sheepthe sheepsheepthe sheep

#4. [noun] + s/sene

Singular IndefiniteSingular DefinitePlural IndefinitePlural Definite
en hønehønen
høns
hønsene
a henthe henhenthe hen
en drinkdrinken
drinks
drinksene
a drinkthe drinkdrinksdrinks