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Plurals like 'sofás', 'esquíes' and 'clubes'

Most Spanish plurals are easy: add -s after a vowel (casa, casas) and -es after a consonant (flor, flores). Two kinds of nouns break that neat picture: words that end in a stressed vowel, like sofá, esquí or menú, and borrowed words that end in a consonant, like club, póster or récord.

English speakers tend to slip here in two ways. Some add -s to every loanword because that is how English does it, and others overapply the Spanish rule and produce forms like sofaes or récordes. The good news is that a few simple patterns cover almost all of these words.

Word list
bebéA1 baby bebé → bebés busmA1 bus bus → buses cafémA1 coffee shop café → cafés mamáfA1 mum mamá → mamás papámA1 dad papá → papás témA1 tea té → tés álbummA2 album álbum → álbumes bolmA2 bowl bol → boles champúmA2 shampoo champú → champús chefA2 chef chef → chefs clubmA2 club club → clubes / clubs emailmA2 email email → emails menúmA2 menu menú → menús robotmA2 robot robot → robots sándwichmA2 sandwich sándwich → sándwiches sofámA2 couch sofá → sofás testmA2 exam test → tests balletmB1 ballet ballet → ballets barmanB1 bartender barman → bármanes / barmans bistecmB1 steak bistec → bistecs brasiermB1 bra brasier → brasieres cárdiganmB1 cardigan cárdigan → cárdiganes carné de conducirmB1 driver's license carné → carnés de conducir chatmB1 chat chat → chats chimpancémB1 chimpanzee chimpancé → chimpancés clipmB1 paper clip clip → clips cómicmB1 comic book cómic → cómics escánermB1 scanner escáner → escáneres esquímB1 ski esquí → esquíes / esquís manímB1 peanut maní → maníes / manís outfitmB1 outfit outfit → outfits parkingmB1 parking lot parking → parkings póstermB1 poster póster → pósteres / pósters récordmB1 record récord → récords souvenirmB1 souvenir souvenir → souvenirs suétermB1 sweater suéter → suéteres yogurmB1 yogurt yogur → yogures aligátormB2 alligator aligátor → aligátores ananámB2 pineapple ananá → ananás argotmB2 slang argot → argots (los argots juveniles) bambúmB2 bamboo bambú → bambúes / bambús bipmB2 beep bip → bips claxonmB2 horn claxon → cláxones hámstermB2 hamster hámster → hámsteres jabalímB2 wild boar jabalí → jabalíes / jabalís kayakmB2 kayak kayak → kayaks pickupmB2 pickup truck pickup → pickups valsmB2 waltz vals → valses ajonjolímC1 sesame ajonjolí → ajonjolíes / ajonjolís bulevarmC1 boulevard bulevar → bulevares bumerangmC1 boomerang bumerang → bumerangs capómC1 hood capó → capós caribúmC1 reindeer caribú → caribúes / caribús carruselmC1 carousel carrusel → carruseles hábitatmC1 habitat hábitat → hábitats icebergmC1 iceberg iceberg → icebergs rubímC1 ruby rubí → rubíes / rubís skateboardmC1 skateboard skateboard → skateboards zípermC1 zipper zíper → zíperes bidémC2 bidet bidé → bidés cóctelmC2 cocktail cóctel → cócteles colibrímC2 hummingbird colibrí → colibríes / colibrís complotmC2 conspiracy complot → complots referéndummC2 referendum referéndum → referéndums (not referéndumes)
How it works

Look at the last letter and where the stress falls. There are three main groups:

Stressed -á, -é, -ó

Add only -s. So sofá becomes sofás, bebé becomes bebés and capó becomes capós.

Stressed -í, -ú

Many of these allow both -es and -s, as in esquíes or esquís. The -es form sounds a little more careful and written, and the -s form is common in speech. A few everyday words take only -s, though.

Loanwords ending in a consonant

If the word ends in a consonant that Spanish words often end in (-r, -l, -n, and also -ch here), it usually takes -es, like escáneres. If it ends in an unusual consonant or a cluster (-t, -k, -c, -p, -rd, -rg), it simply adds -s, like récords.

Compramos dos sofás y varios pósteres.
(We bought two sofas and several posters.)
The words
Stressed -á, -é, -ó: only -s

This group is the simplest. Never add -es: papá, mamá, sofá, ananá, bebé, café, té, chimpancé, bidé and capó all just add -s.

Los bebés duermen y sus papás toman cafés en la terraza.
(The babies are sleeping and their parents are having coffees on the terrace.)
En el zoo vimos tres chimpancés.
(At the zoo we saw three chimpanzees.)
Stressed -í, -ú: -es or -s

With esquí, maní, jabalí, rubí, colibrí, ajonjolí, bambú and caribú, both forms are correct. Pick one and you will be understood everywhere.

Alquilamos los esquíes en la estación.
(We rented the skis at the resort.)
En el bosque viven jabalís y colibríes.
(Wild boars and hummingbirds live in the forest.)
Loanwords that take -es

Club, álbum, escáner, póster, hámster, sándwich and yogur follow the normal Spanish rule. Notice that the written accent stays where it was: álbumes, pósteres. With club and póster, the forms clubs and pósters are also heard.

En mi ciudad hay dos clubes de fútbol.
(There are two football clubs in my city.)
Pedimos dos sándwiches y dos yogures.
(We ordered two sandwiches and two yogurts.)
Mi abuela guarda las fotos en álbumes enormes.
(My grandmother keeps the photos in huge albums.)
Loanwords that take only -s

Words ending in a consonant that Spanish rarely uses at the end of a word keep a plain -s: récord, cómic, robot, iceberg, chat, test, chef, clip, bistec, kayak and hábitat.

Batió tres récords.
(He broke three records.)
A mi hermano le encantan los cómics de robots.
(My brother loves comics about robots.)
Esta semana tengo dos tests de inglés.
(This week I have two English tests.)
Watch out

Not every word in stressed -ú has two plurals. The everyday words menú and champú take only -s: say menús and champús, never menúes. The same goes for tabú as a noun, which is usually tabús in everyday use.

Los menús del día cuestan doce euros.
(The set lunch menus cost twelve euros.)
En el baño hay tres champús distintos.
(There are three different shampoos in the bathroom.)

A few loanwords have their own plurals: jersey becomes jerséis, and currículum is usually currículums. The most common mistake, though, is adding -es to the stressed -á/-é/-ó group. If you ever feel tempted to write cafées, remember cafés.

Summary

Stressed -á, -é and -ó add only -s (sofás, cafés). Stressed -í and -ú usually allow -es or -s (esquíes or esquís), except everyday words like menús and champús. Loanwords ending in a familiar Spanish consonant take -es (clubes, escáneres), while those ending in an unusual consonant just add -s (récords, robots).