Language/French/Grammar/The-plural-of-compound-nouns

French Grammar - The plural of compound nouns

A compound noun ("un nom composé" in French) is a name made up of several words usually separated by dashes (-) but representing only one word. However, the general meaning of the compound noun does not always depend on the distinct meanings of each word that composes it, but on the general meaning given to this name.

In today's lesson, we will study the plural of compound nouns, each element of which can be either:

• a noun
• an adjective
• an adverb
• a preposition
• a verb

Adjective + noun

both are plural

General Examples

French Singular	French Plural	Translation
un arc-boutant	des arcs-boutants
un bas-côté	des bas-côtés
une basse-cour	des basses-cours
une belle-fille	des belles-filles
un cerf-volant	des cerfs-volants
un coffre-fort	des coffres-forts
un grand-parent	des grands-parents
un rond-point	des ronds-points

Family Members

French Singular	French Plural	Translation
un grand-père	des grands-pères
une grand-mère	des grands-mères or des grand-mères
un grand-oncle	des grands-oncles
une grand-tante	des grands-tantes or des grand-tantes

Exception

French Singular	French Plural	Translation
un bonhomme	des bonshommes

Noun + adjective

Both are plural

French Singular	French Plural	Translation
un coffre-fort	des coffres-forts	safe(s)
un pied-plat	des pieds-plats	boor(s)
un grand-père	des grands-pères	grandfather(s)
une belle-fille	des belles-filles	daughter(s)-in-law, step-daughter(s)

Noun + noun

both are plural

General Examples

French Singular	French Plural	Translation
un bateau-citerne	des bateaux-citernes
un bateau-mouche	des bateaux-mouches
un camion-citerne	des camions-citernes
un chou-fleur	des choux-fleurs
un homme-grenouille	des hommes-grenouilles
une idée-force	des idées-forces
un mot-clé	des mots-clés
un oiseau-mouche	des oiseaux-mouches
une pause-café	des pauses-cafés
une porte-fenêtre	des portes-fenêtres
une voiture-restaurant	des voitures-restaurants
un wagon-lit	des wagons-lits

Exceptions

French Singular	French Plural	Translation
une auto-école	des auto-écoles
un bain-marie	des bains-marie
un hôtel-Dieu	des hôtels-Dieu
un timbre-poste	des timbres-poste

Adverb + noun

only noun is plural (although some remain invariable):

French Singular	French Plural	Translation
une arrière-boutique	des arrière-boutiques
une arrière-pensée	des arrière-pensées
un arrière-plan	des arrière-plans
une contre-offensive	des contre-offensives
une contre-offre	des contre-offres
une demi-bouteille	des demi-bouteilles
un demi-tarif	des demi-tarifs
un haut-parleur	des haut-parleurs
un hors-bord	des hors-bords
une mini-jupe	des mini-jupes
un non-lieu	des non-lieus
un non-paiement	des non-paiements

• Exception: un sans-travail, des sans-travail

Adjective + adjective

Both are plural.

French Singular	French Plural	Translation
une douce-amère	des douces-amères	woody nightshade
un sourd-muet	des sourds-muets	deaf-mute(s)

Adverb / adjective + past participle

Only participle is plural.

French Singular	French Plural	Translation
un nouveau-né	des nouveau-nés	newborn(s)
un bien-aimé	des bien-aimés	beloved(s)

Noun + prepositional phrase

only first noun is plural

French Singular	French Plural	Translation
un aide-de-camp	des aides-de-camp
un arc-en-ciel	des arcs-en-ciel
un chef d'oeuvre	des chefs d'œuvre
un coup d'oeil	des coups d'oeil
un coup de pied	des coups de pied
un croc-en-jambe	des crocs-en-jambe
une langue-de-chat	des langues-de-chat
la main d'oeuvre	des mains d'œuvre
un mont-de-piété	des monts-de-piété
une pomme de terre	des pommes de terre
un pot-de-vin	des pots-de-vin

• But not all change:

French Singular	French Plural	Translation
un pot-au-feu	des pot-au-feu
un tête-à-queue	des tête-à-queue
un tête-à-tête	des tête-à-tête

Verb + noun

3 possibilities:

The form remains invariable whether its singular form contains a noun in

the singular or plural. This is the usual pattern:

• des abat-jour
• des essuie-mains
• des gratte-ciel
• des ouvre-boîtes
• des porte-monnaie

The second word becomes plural, normally -s or -x. This is the case with:

• des accroche-cœurs
• des tire-bouchons
• des couvre-lits

These would appear to have been assimilated to the one-word versions, such as:

• le(s) portemanteau(s) coat peg(s)
• le(s) portefeuille(s) wallet(s)

The first word becomes plural (which is an indication that it is no longer related to any verbal form). This is the case with:

• des appuis-tête
• des soutiens-gorge

It has to be said that in the area of compound nouns not all 'authorities' agree on the rules and attempts to introduce 'logical' rules appear to have added further confusion to an already confused situation!

Verb + verb

Invariable.

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un laissez-passer	des laissez-passer		pass(es)
un va-et-vient	des va-et-vient		comings and goings

Verbal phrase compounds

These do not generally have a different plural form:

• des manque-à-gagner
• des on-dit
• des ouï-dire
• des m'as-tu-vu
• des qu'en dira-t-on
• des laisser-passer
• des savoir-faire

Other Chapters

Table of Contents

Nouns

• Types
• Gender
• Plural

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Determiners

• Articles
• Typical use of the definite article
• Typical use of the indefinite article
• The partitive article: du, de l', de la, des
• Use of indefinite and partitive articles after the negative forms ne... pas, ne... jamais, ne... plus, ne... guère
• Omission of the article
• Demonstrative determiners
• Possessive determiners

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Personal and impersonal pronouns

• Subject pronouns
• Object pronouns
• Stressed pronouns
• Demonstrative pronouns
• Possessive pronouns

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Adjectives

• Adjectives modifying the noun
• Adjectives which follow verbs or verbal expressions
• Adjectives with complements
• Indefinite and negative noun phrases with adjective complements
• Adjectives used as nouns
• Adjectives used as adverbs
• Masculine and feminine forms of adjectives
• Plural forms of adjectives
• Adjective agreement with nouns
• Invariable adjectives
• Compound adjectives
• Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives
• Subjunctive versus indicative in clauses dependent on a superlative adjective
• Absolute use of the superlative

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Adverbs

• Function of adverbs
• Formation of adverbs with the ending -ment
• Adjectives used as adverbs without addition of -ment
• Phrases used as adverbs
• English and French adverb formation
• Types of adverbs
• Location of adverbs

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Numbers, measurements, time and quantifiers

• Cardinal numbers
• Ordinal numbers
• Fractions
• Some differences in the use of cardinal and ordinal numbers in French and English
• Measurements and comparisons
• Dates, days, years
• Clock time
• Money
• Quantifiers

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Verb forms

• Conjugations
• Easy ways of generating some parts of the paradigms
• Changes in the stem form of some -er conjugation verbs
• Verbs whose stems end in c- or g-
• Verb paradigms

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Verb constructions

• Relations between verbs and their complements
• Intransitive constructions
• Directly transitive verbs
• Indirectly transitive verbs
• Ditransitive verbs
• The passive
• Pronominal verbs
• Impersonal verbs
• Verbs which take noun + adjective or noun + noun complements

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Verb and participle agreement

• Subject-verb agreement
• Agreement of the past participle with the subject of être
• Agreement of the past participle of verbs conjugated with avoir with a preceding direct object
• Agreement of the past participle of pronominal verbs in compound tenses

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Tense

• The present
• The past
• The future
• Other tenses indicating the time at which events occur relative to other events
• Combining tenses
• Tenses in direct and reported descriptions of events
• Tenses with si

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The subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives

• The attitude of the subject to events: the subjunctive
• The use of devoir, pouvoir, savoir, falloir
• The French equivalents of the English modal verbs: 'would', 'should', 'could', 'may', 'might', 'ought to', and 'must'
• Exclamatives
• Imperatives

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The infinitive

• Introduction: what are infinitives?
• Infinitives as complements to other verbs
• Verbs which take infinitive complements without a linking preposition
• Verbs which take infinitive complements preceded by the preposition à
• Verbs which take an infinitive complement preceded by de
• Omission of objects before infinitives
• Infinitives as complements to adjectives
• Infinitives as complements to nouns
• Infinitives in subordinate clauses
• Infinitives as polite commands
• Quick-reference index to verbs taking infinitive complements

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Prepositions

• Introduction
• Prepositions listed alphabetically from à to vers
• French translations for common English prepositions

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Question formation

• Introduction
• Yes/no questions
• Information questions
• Order of object pronouns in questions involving inversion
• Order of negative particles in questions involving inversion
• Use of question words and phrases: qui?, que?, quoi?, quel?, de qui?, avec combien de? etc.
• Indirect questions

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Relative clauses

• Introduction
• Use of relative qui
• Use of relative que
• Preposition plus qui
• Use of lequel in relative clauses
• Use of dont, de qui, duquel/de laquelle/desquels/desquelles
• The use of où as a relative pronoun
• Use of relative quoi
• Free relative clauses and the use of ce qui, ce que, ce dont, ce à quoi, ce sur quoi, etc.
• Translating 'whoever', 'whatever', 'wherever', 'whenever', 'however'
• Indicative and subjunctive in relative clauses

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Negation

• Introduction
• Location of sentence negators
• Order of negators in multiple negation
• Omission of ne in sentence negation
• Order of negative elements in questions and imperatives
• ne... pas
• ne... que
• ne... aucun(e), ne... nul(le)
• ne... jamais
• ne... plus
• ne... guère
• ne... rien
• ne... personne
• ne... ni... ni
• sans used with other negators
• ne used alone

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Conjunctions and other linking constructions

• Introduction
• Coordinating conjunctions
• Subordinating conjunctions
• Conjunctions sometimes confused by English speakers
• Repeated subordinating conjunctions
• Subordinating conjunctions used with infinitive clauses
• après avoir/ être + past participle linking an infinitive clause to a main clause
• Past participle phrases used as linkers
• Present participles and gerunds