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French Grammar

Plural Formation Rules: Standard Nouns

How French nouns form the plural by adding a silent ‑s, together with the required article changes.

Level A1 Category Grammar

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Lesson Summary

How French nouns form the plural by adding a silent ‑s, together with the required article changes.

Grammar

Forming the Plural

The plural definite article is les, and the plural indefinite article is des. For most nouns, the plural is created by adding a silent -s to the singular form. For a complete review of the article system, see definite articles and indefinite articles.

Standard Plural Formation

Singular	Plural	Rule
le livre	les livres	add -s to the noun
la table	les tables	feminine nouns follow the same rule
un étudiant	des étudiants	indefinite article becomes des
une chaise	des chaises	even if the singular ends in -e, add -s
l'ami	les amis	noun starting with vowel: add -s, article becomes les

Pronunciation

The plural -s is always silent. The singular le livre and the plural les livres are pronounced identically. The article (le vs. les, un vs. des) is the only spoken marker of number. Before a vowel, liaison makes the -s of les audible as a /z/ sound: les‿amis.

Adjective Agreement in the Plural

When a noun becomes plural, any accompanying adjective also receives a plural -s (or -es for the feminine). Examples: le grand livre → les grands livres; la petite table → les petites tables. A detailed treatment of adjectives will follow in a later lesson.

Examples

J'ai un frère et deux sœurs.
Singular frère vs. plural sœurs with added silent -s.
Les étudiants sont dans la salle.
Plural noun étudiants with the definite article les.

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Plural Formation Rules: Standard NounsHow French nouns form the plural by adding a silent ‑s, together with the required article changes.Convert standard singular nouns and their accompanying articles into the correct plural forms.GrammarA1grammarLearn French GrammarFrench GrammarForming the PluralThe plural definite article is les, and the plural indefinite article is des. For most nouns, the plural is created by adding a silent -s to the singular form. For a complete review of the article system, see definite articles and indefinite articles.