Language/French/Grammar/Plural

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).

'-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)

'-ail'

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

Except :

• some words takes ''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)

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Plural of nouns in French: