Belarusian Plural
Learning the Belarusian Plural is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you master it the more you get closer to mastering the Belarusian language. But first we need to know what the role of Plural is in the structure of the grammar in Belarusian.
Belarusian 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 Belarusian, to form the plural of nouns and adjectives we add varied endings, depending on the gender (masculine, feminine
or neutral), and case (Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Creative,
Objective).
The examples below are in Nominative:
сябар (a friend,m.) becomes: сябры (some friends)
жанчына (one woman, f.) becomes: жанчыны (some women)
Гэта мая чырвоная машына (this is my red car, f.)
becomes: Гэта мае чырвоныя машыны. (these are my red cars)
Гэта мaе любiмае шчаня (This is my beloved puppy, n.) becomes: Гэта мае любiмыя шчаняты. (These are my beloved puppies)
Here are some examples:
| English Plural | Belarusian Plural |
| Plural | Mnoʐni lіk - Множны лік |
| my book | maya knіga - мая кніга |
| my books | maye knіgі - мае кнігі |
| our daughter | nasha dachka - наша дачка |
| our daughters | nashiya dochkі - нашыя дочкі |
| I'm cold | Mnye kholadna - Мне холадна |
| we're cold | nam kholadna - нам холадна |
| his chickens | yago/yagoniya kooranyati - яго/ягоныя кураняты |
| their chicken | іkh/іkhnyaye; svayo kooranya/kooranyo - іх/іхняе; сваё кураня/куранё |
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Plural in Belarusian has a logical pattern. Locate the Plural above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Belarussian.
List of Plurals in Belarusian
Below is a list of the Plurals and Singulars in Belarusian placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Belarusian vocabulary.
| English Plural | Belarusian Plural |
| alligator | alіgatar - алігатар |
| alligators | alіgatari - алігатары |
| bear | myadzvyedzʲ - мядзведзь |
| bears | myadzvyedzі - мядзведзі |
| bird | ptooshka - птушка |
| birds | ptooshkі - птушкі |
| bull | bik/boogay/booyla - бык/бугай/буйла |
| bulls | bikі/boogaі/booyli - быкі/бугаі/буйлы |
| cat | kot/koshka/kotka - кот/кошка/котка |
| cats | kati/koshkі/kotkі - каты/кошкі/коткі |
| cow | karova - карова |
| cows | karovi - каровы |
| deer | alyenʲ - алень |
| many deer | shmat/mnoga/bagata alyenyaw - шмат/многа/багата аленяў |
| dog | sabaka - сабака |
| dogs | sabakі - сабакі |
| donkey | asyol - асёл |
| donkeys | asli - аслы |
| eagle | arol - арол |
| eagles | arli - арлы |
| elephant | slon - слон |
| elephants | slani - сланы |
| giraffe | ʐirafa - жырафа |
| giraffes | ʐirafi - жырафы |
| goat | kaza/kazyol - каза/казёл |
| goats | kozi/kazli - козы/казлы |
| horse | konʲ - конь |
| horses | konі - коні |
| lion | lyew - леў |
| lions | lʲvi - львы |
| monkey | malpa - малпа |
| monkeys | malpi - малпы |
| mouse | mish - мыш |
| mice | mishi - мышы |
| rabbit | troos - трус |
| rabbits | troosi - трусы |
| snake | zmyaya - змяя |
| snakes | zmyeі - змеі |
| tiger | tigr - тыгр |
| tigers | tigri - тыгры |
| wolf | vowk - воўк |
| wolves | vawkі - ваўкі |
Plural and Singular have a very important role in Belarusian, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with the Belarussian Plural, you might want to check the rest of our Belarusian lessons here: Learn Belarusian. Don't forget to bookmark this page.