< Portuguese Grammar

plurals for l, r, s, & z end words

These are the easiest! 😻 …Except those ending in ~l 😮‍💨.

Words ending in ~r

rule: r ➾➾ res

mulher ➜ mulheres
Mulheres podem vir sozinhas. (Women can come alone.)
sabor ➜ sabores
Gosto de sabores fortes. (I like strong flavors.)

Words ending in ~s

rule: s ➾➾ es

pais ➜ paises
Já visitei três países. (I’ve already visited 3 countries.)
ônibus ➜ ônibuses
Os ônibuses estão atrasados. (The buses are delayed.)

Words ending in ~z

rule: z ➾➾ es

luz ➜ luzes
As luzes se apagaram. (The lights went out.)
vez ➜ vezes
Às vezes chove. (Sometimes it rains.)

The plurals for words ending in ~l don’t follow a simple rule and are usually divided into those ending in ~al; ~el; ~il; ~ol & ~ul (a,e,i,o,u!).

Words ending in ~l

rule: l ➾➾ is

real ➜ reais
Esses documentos são reais. (These documents are real.)
legal ➜ legais
Têm pessoas legais aqui. (There are cool people here.)

Words ending in ~il

rule (inconsistent!): il ➾➾ eis

difícil ➜ dificeis
Foram tempos difíceis. (They were difficult times.)
frágil ➜ frágeis
Essas caixas são frágeis. (These boxes are fragile.)