πŸ…Ά Singulier et pluriel – Singular and plural

Comment rendre les noms franΓ§ais pluriels ?


How do you make French nouns plural?

plural in French

A1

Grammar

15 minutes

Γ‰crit par / Written by: Anthony Lucas

Dernière révision / Last update: 10 April 2024

La rΓ¨gle gΓ©nΓ©rale de transformation des noms au pluriel en franΓ§ais – The general rule for transforming nouns into the plural in French

For nouns and adjectives, the general rule is to add a s at the end of word when it is plural. Let’s see some examples:

There is a dedicated lesson about The place and agreement of adjectives, this is why in this lesson we will talk mainly about nouns.

πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FranΓ§ais
singulier
πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FranΓ§ais plurielπŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ Anglais
une tΓ©lΓ©vision
des tΓ©lΓ©visionsa television – televisions
un grand appartement
des grands appartementsa big apartment – bigs apartments
la ville
les villesthe city – cities
ma petite soeur
mes petites soeursmy little sister – my little sisters

Que se passe-t-il lorsqu’un nom se termine par un “s” au singulier ? – What happens when a noun ends with an “s” in the singular?

When a noun already ends with a -s, -z or -x when it is singular, there is no need to add an extra s for the plural version:

πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FranΓ§ais
singulier
πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FranΓ§ais plurielπŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ Anglais
un pays
des paysa country – countries
le gaz
les gazthe gas – the gases

RΓ¨gles secondaires pour le pluriel des noms en franΓ§ais – Secondary rules for the plural of nouns in French

The point at this stage of your learning process is not to remember all the different cases but to get a big picture of what you can encounter in the French grammar. Here are some interesting cases for common words:

For most of the nouns ending with ail, the plural in French is aux.

πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FranΓ§ais
singulier
πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FranΓ§ais plurielπŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ Anglais
un travail
des travauxa work – works
le bail
les bauxthe lease – the leases

For singular nouns ending with al, plural nouns in French end with aux.

πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FranΓ§ais
singulier
πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FranΓ§ais plurielπŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ Anglais
un cheval
des chevauxa horse – horses
un journal
des journauxa newspaper – newspapers

7 nouns ending in ou have a plural in French in oux

Here are the most common ones:

πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FranΓ§ais
singulier
πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FranΓ§ais plurielπŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ Anglais
un bijou
des bijouxa jewel – jewellery
un chou
des chouxa cabbage – cabbages
un genou
des genouxa knee – knees

Singular nouns ending by eu, au or eau will have an extra x when becoming plural in French.

πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FranΓ§ais
singulier
πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FranΓ§ais plurielπŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ Anglais
un cheveu
des cheveuxa hair – hair
un manteau
des manteauxa coat – coats
un chapeau
des chapeauxa hat – hats

Fais particuliΓ¨rement attention quand ta langue maternelle est l’anglais ! – Be particularly careful when your mother tongue is English!

Nouns that are plural in English but singular in French

πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FrenchπŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ English
l’actualitΓ©news
un escalierstairs
un jeanjeans
un pantalontrousers
un pyjamapyjamas

Nouns that are singular in English but plural in French

bagages is plural in French
πŸŽ§πŸ‡«πŸ‡· FrenchπŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ English
des conseilsadvice
des spectateursaudience
les bagagesbaggage, luggage
les affairesbusiness
les meublesfurniture
les cheveuxhair
les devoirshomework
des pΓ’tespasta
les transportstransportation

Γ€ RETENIR

WORTH REMEMBERING

If you just want to remember the basics, then just remember to add an “s” to the plural noun
(unless the singular word already has a final “s”).

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