Editing Language/French/Grammar/Plural

[[File:learn_french_plural.jpg|thumb]] 

This article explains how to use the plural in French. 

In general, the French nouns form the plural by adding an '-s' to the singular:  
*un cahier / des cahiers (a notebook / notebooks)

You will find below the exceptions to this rule:

----

=='s', 'x' or 'z'==
Singular nouns ending with 's', 'x' or 'z' do not change at plural:
*le fils / les fils (the son / the sons)
=='-au', '-eau' or '-eu'== 
Singular nouns ending with '-au', '-eau' or '-eu' ends with an '-x' at plural:
*le feu / les feux (the fire / fires).
*
except :landau (s),  sarrau (s ), bleu(s) , pneu (s )

=='-ou'==
Words ending in 'OU' take an 'S' except for the following words ending in 'X':
*bijou (jewel)
*caillou (pebble)
*chou (cabbage)
*genou (knee)
*hibou (owl)
*joujou (toy)
*pou (louse)

=='-al'== 
Singular nouns ending with '-al' change their termination to '-aux':
*le cheval / les chevaux.  
Some words have a regular plural and take an '-s'. The most common exceptions are : aval (downstream or approval), bal (ball, dance), carnaval, cérémonial, chacal (jackal), festival, narval (narwhal), récital, régal (delight), natal (native),

Glacial (cold) can be "glacials" or "glaciaux" in the plural

=='-ail'==

Words that ends with "ail" in plural take "s"  

Except :

*some words takes <nowiki>''</nowiki>aux" in plural instead of "s" like :  bail / baux (lease), émail / émaux (enamel), soupirail /soupiraux (basement window), vitrail / vitraux (stained glass), vantail / vantaux (door panel), travail / travaux (job), corail / coraux (coral)

== Plural of compound names ==
Some names are composed of two words, sometimes three.In general, only nouns and adjectives take the plural mark. Verbs, adverbs and prepositions are invariable.

Exemples :
* des sourds-muets (deaf-mute) = adjective+adjective
* des porte-documents (portfolio) =verb+noun
* des haut-parleurs (speakers) = adverb+noun

But the plural also depends on the meaning of the words.

Exemples :
* des wagons-lits (sleepers coaches) = noun+noun, and there are several cars and several beds per car.
* des kilomètres-heure (kilometres per hour) = several kilometres but only one hour.

"Demi" (half)  et "semi" (semi)  are invariable if they are placed before the name.

Exemples:
* des demi-heures (half-hours)
* des semi-remorques (semi-trailers)

==VIDEOS==
Plural of nouns in French:

<youtube> 56aukrZA4wI</youtube>

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	|title=how to use the plural in French?
	|keywords=singular, plural, ending, nouns, termination 
	|description=This lesson tells you how to form the plural in French
        |og:image=/wiki/images/b/bc/Learn_french_plural.jpg
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[[Category: French/Beginner]]
[[Category: French/Grammar]]

==Related Lessons==
* [[Language/French/Grammar/The-partitive-article-"du",-"de-l'",-"de-la"-and-"des"|The partitive article "du", "de l'", "de la" and "des"]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Quantifiers-and-personal-pronouns|Quantifiers and personal pronouns]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/The-irregular-verb-être|The irregular verb être]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Meaning-of-tout-à-l'heure|Meaning of tout à l'heure]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Typical-use-of-the-definite-article|Typical use of the definite article]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Common-quantifiers|Common quantifiers]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Well-Better-Worse|Well Better Worse]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Position-of-y-and-en-with-negative-infinitives|Position of y and en with negative infinitives]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Gender-of-the-noun-indicated-by-its-final-letter|Gender of the noun indicated by its final letter]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Direct-object-quantifiers-and-«-en-»|Direct object quantifiers and « en »]]