How to form the plural of French nouns?

Just like in English, the most basic way to form the pluralNo definition set for pluralLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. of a nounNo definition set for nounLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. in French is to add an -s. But, depending on the ending of some nouns, there are other possibilities.

When I first visited England, I arrived in the countryside and said to the lady who welcomed me, "I like the ❌ sheeps." You don’t want to make a similar mistake in French, do you? Or, what will you do when you want to form the plural of a compound word like l’arc-en-ciel(rainbow)?

In this post, we’ll review the different plural noun endings in French, along with exceptions, words that change meaning in the plural, and the plurals of compound nouns. Let’s get started!

To form most plural forms of French nouns, you can simply add an -s at the end of the noun! This is the easiest of all rules and the one you will use the most.

The plural -s is silent 99 percent of the time. However, what happens with the structure plural noun + adjective No definition set for adjective Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. starting with a vowel? You can make a liaison! Link the final consonantNo definition set for consonantLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. of the noun with the first vowel of the following adjective. When you do it, the -s takes the form of a /z/ sound:

Generally, the more liaisons you make in French, the more formal you will sound. So you can choose if you do it or not!

Sometimes, nouns will already end in an -s, an -x, or a -z. These nouns do not take an additional -s to form the plural.

Now that we’ve got that covered, let’s introduce the other possible form of plural.

Add an -x to form the plural for French nouns ending in -au, -eau, -eu, and -al. Here are the types of nouns that take -x instead of -s:

For more examples of exceptions, check out this list of French nouns irregular in the plural.

Now let’s move on to some nouns that have a mind of their own.

Of course, there are some exceptions of plurals, which require a completely new word in the plural form compared to the singular form. For example, what do you think the plural of un oeil(an eye) is? Les yeux ! 👀 Here’s some more examples of words that change in the plural:

• monsieur → messieurs

  sir → gentlemen

• madame → mesdames

  madam → ladies

• mademoiselle → mesdemoiselles

  miss → ladies

This is because these words contain a possessive pronounNo definition set for possessive pronounLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. For example mon + sieur(my + sir). The plural form of mon being mes, it naturally becomes messieurs!

Some French words only exist in the plural. The following words are always plural:

• les affaires

  business

• les renseignements

  information office

• les vacances

  vacation

What do you notice above between the French and the English words? I’m sure you have guessed it right. The English words are always singular! I recommend this article which has an exhaustive list of English singular words that are always plural in French, and vice versa.

Some categories of French words always remain singular:

• collective nouns which refer to a substance: le lait(milk), l'or(gold)

• abstract nouns: la beauté(beauty)

• nouns referring to arts and science:la chimie(chemistry)

For more info on these singular words, I recommend this article .

Finally, there are a few nouns with which you need to be careful.

Some French words change their meaning in the plural form. The words in the examples below can keep their original meaning in the plural form, but they also may have a different meaning in another context.

This article shows the most common French nouns that can have different meanings in the plural.

Let’s review one final point: compound nouns.

To form the plural of compound nouns in French, you can add the plural to both words, one word only, or no word at all! But, what is a compound noun? It’s two words combined into one. For example, in English, the words “sandstorm” or “flash flood” are compound nouns. In French, you will notice that the two words are often linked by a hyphen, but they can also be linked by a preposition.

So, how do you know what to do? It is very important to recognize the types of words that form your compound noun to apply the correct rule. We are going to look at the following compound word combinations:

• noun + noun

• noun + adjective

• noun + prepositionNo definition set for prepositionLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. + noun

• adverbNo definition set for adverbLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. or preposition + noun

• noun + verb

To form the plural form of French nouns, keep the following points in mind:

• Adding -s is the most common form of forming plurals.

• Nouns ending in -au , -eau , and -eu form their plural with an -x.

• Nouns ending in -al take -aux.

• There are a few odd nouns worth learning by heart, like les yeux or mesdames!

• When forming the plural of compound nouns, remember this table:

  Compound noun formation	Plural form
  noun + noun	Both words take the plural form.
  noun + adjective
  noun + preposition + noun	Only the first noun takes the plural.
  adverb or preposition + noun	Only the noun takes the plural.
  noun + verb

Ready to practice what you’ve learned? Check out our activities on French plural forms!