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Grammar
Objective: Form the plural of nouns ending in -eau, -au, -eu, -al, and -ou by applying the correct irregular ending.
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| le château | les châteaux | the castle, the castles |
| le bureau | les bureaux | the desk, the desks |
| le jeu | les jeux | the game, the games |
| le cheval | les chevaux | the horse, the horses |
| l'animal | les animaux | the animal, the animals |
| le genou | les genoux | the knee, the knees |
Nouns ending in -eau form the plural with -x, so château becomes châteaux, never château.
Nouns ending in -al change the ending to -aux, and cheval follows this rule without exception.
Singular masculine. Château ends in -eau and will take -x in the plural.
Plural form châteaux with -x. The pronunciation is unchanged from the singular.
Singular. Cheval ends in -al, which will become -aux in the plural.
Plural form chevaux. The verb courent also shifts to the plural to agree with the subject.
Singular. Jeu ends in -eu and forms the plural with -x.
5 exercises · about 8 minutes
Genou belongs to a small group of -ou nouns that form the plural with -x instead of -s.
Œil has a completely irregular plural, so yeux must be memorised as a separate word rather than built from the singular.
Singular. Œil is one of the fully irregular nouns and does not follow any plural pattern.
Plural form yeux has no visual resemblance to the singular œil. It must be memorised as a separate word.