Noun plurals: la casa, las casas

The whole system on one screen

Blue marks a masculine article, rose a feminine one, and the highlighter marks the ending that makes the plural.

Rule 1: vowel ending, add -s

If the noun ends in a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), add -s. This covers most nouns, because most end in -o, -a or -e.

12

1. 1una manzana
2. 2tres manzanas

Manzana ends in a vowel, so one apple becomes three with a plain -s.

-e counts as a vowel, so hombre takes a plain -s. The accent on día stays where it was:

• Tengo dos perros. - I've got two dogs.
• Trabajo todos los días. - I work every day.

Rule 2: consonant ending, add -es

If the noun ends in a consonant, add -es. The extra e gives the ending a syllable of its own, so señores and meses say themselves.

A final -y counts as a consonant here: el rey, los reyes.

• Hay muchas ciudades en España. - There are a lot of cities in Spain.
• El curso dura tres meses. - The course lasts three months.

The spelling swap: -z becomes -ces

Nouns ending in -z follow rule 2, but Spanish spelling does not write z before e. So the z is written c.

The sound is exactly what rule 2 predicts; only the letter changes. Anchor it on vez, one of the commonest nouns in Spanish:

• Lo hago muchas veces. - I do it lots of times.
• Apaga las luces. - Turn off the lights.