The French plural

  Plural forms are forms that refer to "more than one" of something.  In English, nouns are usually marked as being plural by adding -s or -es : one book, two books ; this blue box, these blue boxes.  In English, adjectives like blue don't change between singular and plural. But in French, adjectives are also marked as being singular or plural. The plural

  The most common rule for forming the plural of nouns and adjectives in French is actually very simple:  add a final -s in the spelling to mark a noun or adjective as plural ;  NOTE: if you have a plural adjective followed by a plural noun, then pronounce the final -s on the adjective if the noun begins with a vowel. continuation

  General rule: add -s in the spelling  Usually, the plural form of nouns and adjectives is straightforward in French: you just need to remember to add an -s to both the noun and any adjective(s) that might be alongside it.  For example: les (as opposed to le or la ) is the French for "the" in the plural:  Les garçons Rule #1

SingularPlural le livre the book les livres the books la chaise the chair les chaises the chairs le livre rouge the red book les livres rouges the red books la grande maison the large house les grandes maisons the large houses position of the adjective position of the adjective Notice in these examples the position of the adjective:position of the adjective some basic size adjectives usually go before the noun, whereas color adjectives normally go afterwards.

 Rule #2  Words already ending in -s or -x  Where a noun or adjective ends in -s in the singular, no further -s is added in the plural.  For example: un Français ( a Frenchman ) remains des Français ( Frenchmen ) un virus ( a virus ) remains des virus ( viruses ).  The same is true of words ending in -x, for example: le prix the price/prize les prix the prices/prizes la voix the voice les voix the voices

  Nouns that end in - au take - x in the plural.  For example: bateau ( boat ) becomes bateaux ( boats ); manteau ( overcoat ) becomes manteaux ( overcoats ).  Most nouns that end in - ou take - s in the plural, but some take - x.  For example: chou ( cabbage ) becomes choux ( cabbages ) bijou ( jewel ) becomes bijoux ( jewels ). Other rules

  Nouns that end in - al drop that ending and use - aux in the plural.  For example: journal ( newspaper )becomes journaux ( newspapers ); animal ( animal ) becomes animaux ( animals ).  Family names aren't pluralized in French.  For example, the Martins lose the - s in French but keep the article: Les Martin. continuation

  When to pronounce the plural -s  In general, the plural -s in French, like many final consonants, isn't pronounced. However, a notable exception is where you have a plural adjective followed by a noun beginning with a vowel.  In such cases, the final -s of the adjective ( but not the noun ) is pronounced, as a [z] sound:  les grands arbres les jeunes Américains ces petits enfants The sound