Just like in English, the most basic way to form the plural of a noun 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 meaning 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!
How to form plurals with the ending ‘-s’ in French?
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 starting with a vowel? You can make a liaison! Link the final consonant 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.
When to add an ‘-x’ to form the plural in French?
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:
| Noun ending in... | Singular | Plural | Exception words which take -s |
|---|---|---|---|
| -au | le noyau Translation: the pit | les noyaux Translation: the pits | les landaus Translation: baby carriages |
| -eau | le drapeau Translation: the flag | les drapeaux Translation: the flags | - - - |
| -eu | le jeu Translation: the game | les jeux Translation: the games | les pneus Translation: tires les bleus Translation: bruises |
| -al | le journal Translation: the newspaper | les journaux Translation: the newspapers | les bals Translation: balls les carnavals Translation: carnivals les festivals Translation: festivals les chacals Translation: jackals |
le cheval Translation: the horse | les chevaux Translation: the horses |
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.
What are the exceptions when forming the plural in French?
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 meaning an eye is? Les yeux ! 👀 Here’s some more examples of words that change in the plural:
- monsieur → messieursTranslation: sir → gentlemen
- madame → mesdamesTranslation: madam → ladies
- mademoiselle → mesdemoisellesTranslation: miss → ladies
This is because these words contain a possessive pronoun. For example mon + sieur meaning 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 affairesTranslation: business
- les renseignementsTranslation: information office
- les vacancesTranslation: 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 meaning milk, l'or meaning gold
abstract nouns: la beauté meaning beauty
nouns referring to arts and science:la chimie meaning 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.
Which words change their meaning in the plural form in French?
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.
How do you form the plural of compound nouns in French?
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 + preposition + noun
adverb or preposition + noun
noun + verb
How to form the plural of a “noun + noun” compound word in French?
To form the plural of a noun + noun compound French word, add the plural form to both words.
le chou-fleur → les choux-fleurs meaning cauliflowers
le balai-brosse → les balais-brosses meaning scrub brushes
How to form the plural of a “noun + adjective” compound word in French?
To form the plural of a noun + adjective compound word in French, add the plural form to both words.
We have seen that, in the case of a noun with a noun or a noun with an adjective, generally both words will take the plural form. In the other combinations that follow, only one of the two words will take the plural form.
How to form the plural of a “noun + preposition + noun” compound word in French?
To form the plural of a noun + preposition + noun compound word in French, only the first noun will take the plural form.
In fact, here œuvre meaning piece of work is singular for two reasons: because of the preposition d' and because œuvre is the life work of an artist and is an uncountable noun, so it stays singular.
How to form the plural of an “adverb or preposition + noun” compound word in French?
To form the plural of adverb/preposition + noun compound words, only the noun takes the plural form. For example:
Are you still following? I’m sure you are! Let's look at our final combination.
How to form the plural of a “noun + verb” compound word in French?
To form the plural of noun + verb compound words in French, the verb stays singular and only the noun takes the plural.
Now, in some cases, it gets a bit tricky because you have to think about the nature of the noun. If it is uncountable, it will remain singular.
Let's look at the following example together.
Now that we’ve covered compound noun plurals, let’s review what we’ve learned.
Let’s recap
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!
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