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: