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Depending on the language, words can come in different declensions:
  • Number: singular or plural
  • Gender: masculine, feminine, neutral
  • Case: nominative, accusative, genitive
The ignorePlurals parameter controls whether Algolia treats these variations as equivalent. Turn it on if your users search with declined forms. The index’s query language decides which dictionaries apply: with English, the queries “shirt” and “shirts” return the same results. Algolia provides a built-in declension dictionary for each supported language, and you can add your own declensions in the Algolia dashboard. Each Algolia application uses one declension dictionary per language. To create equivalences for one index only, use synonyms instead.

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Open a declension dictionary

Whenever you want to inspect, add, or customize declined forms, start with these steps.
  1. Go to the Algolia dashboard and select your Algolia .
  2. In the left sidebar, select Search.
  3. Go to the Dictionaries page.
  4. Select the language you want to customize.
  5. Select the Plurals & Other Declensions tab.

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Inspect declined forms

Open a declension dictionary, then search for a word. The equivalents Algolia provides, and any you added, appear below the search box.
The search box doesn’t have typo tolerance.

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Create custom declensions

  1. Open a declension dictionary.
  2. Search for the word.
  3. If no entry exists, select Create a new list.
  4. Enter each word to treat as an equivalent, then select Save.
  5. Select Review and Save.

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Customize equivalents

A built-in declension may miss a form your users search with, or treat two words as equivalent when your catalog needs them apart. To edit equivalents:
  1. Open a declension dictionary.
  2. Search for the word.
  3. Select Edit.
  4. Add or remove equivalents.
  5. Select Save, then select Review and Save.
Editing a built-in declension creates a custom one, and the built-in declension remains. When both exist for a word, only the custom declension applies.

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Delete custom declensions

You can only delete custom declensions, and a declension can’t be empty. To stop a built-in declension from matching other forms, edit it and leave only the word itself. To delete custom declensions:
  1. Open a declension dictionary.
  2. Search for the word.
  3. Select Delete.
  4. Select Review and Save.

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Upload and download customizations

Open a declension dictionary, then select Actions:
  • To upload your own list, select Upload your declensions list.
  • To export what you added, select Download your declensions list as JSON or as CSV.

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Upload format

Don’t put a space after a comma. The dashboard matches the header row character for character, so words doesn’t match words, and the upload skips the rows it can’t match. In CSV, put the equivalents in one quoted, comma-separated list.

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Manage declensions programmatically

The dashboard isn’t the only way to customize a dictionary:
Last modified on August 27, 2026