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[[File:French-Language-PolyglotClub.png|thumb]]
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[[File:learn_french_plural.jpg|thumb]]
<div style="font-size:300%"> French Grammar - Number differences between French and English nouns</div>
<div class="pg_page_title">French Grammar - Number differences between French and English nouns</div>
Some nouns which are singular in English are plural in French, and others are plural in English and singular in French. The following are examples which sometimes cause difficulty for English speakers:


__TOC__
Some nouns in the singular in English are in the plural in French and vice versa.
Here are some examples:
<span link>Finish this lesson and explore these related pages:</span> [[Language/French/Grammar/Possessive-determiners|Possessive determiners]], [[Language/French/Grammar/Omission-of-the-article|Omission of the article]], [[Language/French/Grammar/Omission-of-the-article-in-set-phrases-and-verbal-constructions|Omission of the article in set phrases and verbal constructions]] & [[Language/French/Grammar/Adjectives-modifying-the-noun|Adjectives modifying the noun]].
==English singular & French plural==
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!English singular
!English singular
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|}
|}


==English plural & French singular==
 
 
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
!English plural  
!English plural
!French singular
!French singular
|-
|linguistics
|la linguistique
|-
|-
|economics
|economics
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|du raisin
|du raisin
|-
|-
 
|linguistics
|la linguistique
|-
|physics
|physics
|la physique
|la physique
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|pyjamas
|pyjamas
|un pyjama
|un pyjama
|-
|shorts
|un short
|-
|-
|stairs
|stairs
|l'escalier
|l'escalier
|-
|-
|shorts
|tights
|un short
|un collant
|-
|-
|trousers
|trousers
|un pantalon
|un pantalon
|-
|-
|tights
|un collant
|-
|underpants
|underpants
|un slip
|un slip
|}
|}


==Mass nouns==


A [[Language/French/Grammar/Mass-versus-count-nouns|mass noun]] is a noun (like advice, bread, knowledge, luck, and work) that names things which, when used in English, generally cannot be counted.
*NB: Some mass nouns in French can also be used as count nouns more freely than their English equivalents:
Many abstract nouns are uncountable, but not all uncountable nouns are [[Language/French/Grammar/Abstract-versus-concrete-nouns|abstract]]. The contrasting term is known as a [[Language/French/Grammar/Mass-versus-count-nouns|count noun]].


Some mass nouns in French can also be used as count nouns more freely than their English equivalents:


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
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!English
!English
|-
|-
 
|un fruit
|a  piece of fruit
|-
|un pain
|un pain
|a  loaf of bread (NOT *a bread)
|a  loaf of bread (NOT *a bread)
|-
|un fruit
|a  piece of fruit
|-
|-
|un raisin
|un raisin
|a type of grape
|a type of grape
|}
|}
{{French-Nouns-Number}}
==Other Chapters==
{{French-Grammar-Course-Menu}}
<span links></span>

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