Chapter 6: Must, If and More Plurals

Advanced Noun Plurals

Eight more Dholuo plural patterns for nouns ending in ng, ny, d, w, t, th, m and a, with examples.

📚 Nouns

We covered a few noun groups in previos lessons. Let’s look at some more.

📚 Nouns and Their Plurals

Nouns ending in ‘ng’ or ‘ng” form their plurals using ‘nge’

Dholuo (Singular)	English (Singular)	Dholuo (Plural)	English (Plural)
Chong	Knee	Chonge	Knees
Wang’	Eye	Wenge	Eyes
Gweng’	District	Gwenge	Districts

Grammar note: There is a notable exception. The word ‘olang” which means ‘a black ant’ forms its plural as ‘olengini’ rather than the expected ‘olenge’.

📚 Nouns and Their Plurals

Nouns ending in ‘ny’ form their plurals using ‘nje’

Dholuo (Singular)	English (Singular)	Dholuo (Plural)	English (Plural)
Piny	Country	Pinje	Countries
Lweny	War	Lwenje	Wars
Bony	Ring	Bonje	Rings

📚 Nouns and Their Plurals

Nouns ending in ‘d’ followed by a vowel form their plurals using ‘te’

Dholuo (Singular)	English (Singular)	Dholuo (Plural)	English (Plural)
Lwedo	Hands	Lwete	Hands
Kede	Stick or Twig	Kete	Sticks or Twigs
Kidi	Stone	Kite	Stones

📚 Nouns and Their Plurals

Nouns ending in ‘w’ or ‘w’ followed by a vowel form their plurals using ‘pe’

Dholuo (Singular)	English (Singular)	Dholuo (Plural)	English (Plural)
Lowo	Land	Lope	Lands
Jowi	Buffalo	Jope	Buffalos

📚 Nouns and Their Plurals

Nouns ending in ‘t’ form their plurals using ‘de’

Dholuo (Singular)	English (Singular)	Dholuo (Plural)	English (Plural)
Got	Hill or Mountain	Gode	Hills or Mountains
Bat	Arm	Bede	Arms

Grammar note: The word ‘ot’ which means ‘house’ is a notable exception. It’s plural is ‘udi’ instead of ‘ode’.

📚 Nouns and Their Plurals

Nouns ending in ‘th’ form their plurals using ‘dhe’

Dholuo (Singular)	English (Singular)	Dholuo (Plural)	English (Plural)
Luth	Stick	Ludhe	Sticks
Ruoth	King	Ruodhe	Kings
Othith	Palm	Othidhe	Palms

Grammar note: The word ‘rath’ which means ‘a single grain’ is a notable exception. It’s plural is ‘radhini’, an interesting double plural.

📚 Nouns and Their Plurals

Nouns ending in ‘m’ or ‘m’ followed by a vowel form their plurals using ‘mbe’

Dholuo (Singular)	English (Singular)	Dholuo (Plural)	English (Plural)
Chiemo	Food	Chiembe	Foods
Kom	Chair	Kombe	Chairs

📚 Nouns and Their Plurals

Some words ending in ‘a’ form their plurals using ‘e’

Dholuo (Singular)	English (Singular)	Dholuo (Plural)	English (Plural)
Aora	River	Aore	Rivers
Rawera	Youth	Rawere	Many Youth

💬 Conversation Practice

Yambo

Nitie ang’o e puothe?

Is present + what + in + the farms?

What is in the farms?

Akinyi

Puothe nigi buthe.

The farms + have + pumpkins

The farms have pumpkins.

Yambo

To ong’eche nitie?

And + monkeys + are present?

Are there monkeys?

Akinyi

Eeh, ong’eche ketho chiemo.

Yes + monkeys + spoil + the food

Yes, the monkeys are spoiling the food

Yambo

To apuoche?

And + rabbits

What about rabbits?

Akinyi

Apuoche ni e buche.

Rabbits + in + holes.

The rabbits are in holes.

📚 Vocabulary from the Conversation

Dholuo	English	Type
Ketho	To spoil	Verb
Lworo	To fear or be afraid of	Verb

🎯 Practice Exercises

Practice is free: just sign in

Create a free account to unlock the interactive exercises for this lesson and track your progress. The lessons stay free to read, always.

Speak on Echo

Answer the daily Dholuo prompt or post your own recording on Echo. Other learners listen, and a native Luo speaker reviews how you sound.

Practice speaking on Echo

← If and Then: Ka and To Chapter 6 Review →