Afrikaans Plural
Learning the Afrikaans Plural is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you practice the subject, the closer you get to mastering the Afrikaans language. But first we need to know what the role of Plural is in the structure of the grammar in Afrikaans.
Afrikaans Plurals are grammatical numbers, typically referring to more than one of the referent in the real world. In the English language, singular and plural are the only grammatical numbers.
Grammar Tips:
While in English, the plural is formed by
adding (s) to the singular. In Afrikaans, to form the plural of nouns and adjectives we add (-s) to words ending in a vowel
and (-es) to words ending in a
consonant. Here are some examples:
swerm (a swarm) becomes: swerms (e.g. a swarm of bees/'n
swerm bye)
vrou (one woman) becomes: vrouens (some women)
hierdie is my rooi motor (this is my red car)
becomes: hierdie is my rooi motors (these are my red cars)
Ambiguous plural forms:
Sy bril het gebreek. (His glasses broke.)
Ons skryf eksamen aan die einde van die jaar. (We write
exams at the end of the year.)
Die uitslag van die toets is reeds bekend. (The results
of the test have been released.)
Vriend (friend) becomes: Vriende (friends)
Een vrou (one woman) becomes: Baie vroue (many women)
Dit is my rooi motor (this is my red car)
becomes: Dit is my rooi motors (these are my red cars)
Ek het een kat (I have a cat) becomes: Ek het
twee katte (I have two cats) – note, in this example, an (–e) was added, as well as
another consonant (t), to make sure the word has a short sound.
Here are some examples:
| English Plural | Afrikaans Plural |
| Plural | Meervoud |
| my book | my boek |
| my books | my boeke |
| our daughter | ons dogter |
| our daughters | ons dogters |
| I'm cold | ek kry koud |
| we're cold | ons kry koud |
| his chickens | sy hoenders |
| their chicken | hulle hoender |
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Plural in Afrikaans has a logical pattern. Locate the Plural above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Afrikaans.
Note: Because Afrikaans has lost its case system, nouns do not have grammatical gender and there is a distinction between the singular and plural forms of nouns. The most common plural marker is the suffix -e, but several common nouns form their plural instead by adding a final -s.
List of Plurals in Afrikaans
Below is a list of the Plurals and Singulars in Afrikaans placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Afrikaans vocabulary.
| English Plural | Afrikaans Plural |
| alligator | krokodil |
| alligators | Alligators |
| bear | beer |
| bears | bere |
| bird | voël |
| birds | voëls |
| bull | bul |
| bulls | bulle |
| cat | kat |
| cats | katte |
| cow | koei |
| cows | koeie |
| deer | bok |
| many deer | bokke |
| dog | hond |
| dogs | honde |
| donkey | donkie |
| donkeys | donkies |
| eagle | arend |
| eagles | arende |
| elephant | olifant |
| elephants | olifante |
| giraffe | kameelperd |
| giraffes | kameelperde |
| goat | bok |
| goats | bokke |
| horse | perd |
| horses | perde |
| lion | leeu |
| lions | leeus |
| monkey | aap |
| monkeys | ape |
| mouse | muis |
| mice | muise |
| rabbit | haas / konyn |
| rabbits | hase / konyne |
| snake | slang |
| snakes | slange |
| tiger | tier |
| tigers | tiere |
| wolf | Wolf |
| wolves | wolwe |
Plural and Singular have a very important role in Afrikaans, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with Afrikaans Plural, you might want to check the rest of our Afrikaans lessons here: Learn Afrikaans. Don't forget to bookmark this page.