Nouns Plural
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 Indefinite | Plural 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 Indefinite | Singular Definite | Plural Indefinite | Plural Definite |
---|---|---|---|
en bil | bilen | biler | bilerne |
a car | the car | cars | the cars |
en blomst | blomsten | blomster | blomsterne |
a flower | the flower | flowers | the flowers |
et træ | træet | træer | træerne |
a tree | the tree | trees | the trees |
et billede | billedet | billeder | billederne |
a picture | the picture | pictures | the pictures |
#2. [noun] + e / ene
Singular Indefinite | Singular Definite | Plural Indefinite | Plural Definite |
---|---|---|---|
en stol | stolen | stole | stolene |
a chair | the chair | chairs | the chairs |
en hund | hunden | hunde | hundene |
a dog | the dog | dogs | the dogs |
et hus | huset | huse | husene |
a house | the house | houses | the houses |
et bord | bordet | borde | bordene |
a table | the table | tables | the tables |
#3. [noun] + [ ]/ene
Singular Indefinite | Singular Definite | Plural Indefinite | Plural Definite |
---|---|---|---|
et år | året | år | årene |
a year | the year | years | the years |
et æg | ægget | æg | æggene |
a egg | the egg | egg | the eggs |
et får | fåret | får | fårene |
a sheep | the sheep | sheep | the sheep |
#4. [noun] + s/sene
Singular Indefinite | Singular Definite | Plural Indefinite | Plural Definite |
---|---|---|---|
en høne | hønen | høns | hønsene |
a hen | the hen | hen | the hen |
en drink | drinken | drinks | drinksene |
a drink | the drink | drinks | drinks |