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Number

Number | Le nombre

In French, all nouns are either singular or plural. When a noun refers to more than one person, place, thing, idea, or quality, it must be made plural.

Note: Throughout this site, an ‘s.’ is used to designate the singular form of words and a ‘p.’ is used to designate the plural form of words.

 

le singulier (s.) ou le pluriel (p.) | singular or plural

 

The number of a word (singular or plural) can relate to five parts of speech: the nouns, the determiners/articles, the adjectives, the pronouns and the verbs.

 

For example | Par exemple:

determiners/articles:

  • ma pomme – mes pommes | my apples
    cette pomme – ces pommes | these/those apples
    la pomme – les pommes | the apples
    When a noun changes to the plural, its respective determiner/article must also change to the plural form.

 

adjectives:

  • la pomme rouge – les pommes rouges | the red apples
    When a noun changes to the plural, its respective adjective must also change to the plural form.

 

pronouns:

  • Elle (la pomme rouge) est juteuse. – Elles (les pommes rouges) sont juteuses. | They (the red apples) are juicy.
    The pronouns must agree in number with the nouns or the noun phrases they substitute.

 

verbs:

  • La pomme tombe dans le panier. – Les pommes tombent dans les paniers. | The apples fall into the baskets.
    The conjugated verb must also agree in number with its subject.

General Rules | Les règles générales

In general, most nouns simply add an ‘s‘ to form the plural.

Some exceptions and irregularities | Certaines exceptions et des irrégularités

In general, nouns ending in ‘al‘ change to ‘aux‘.

Some Exceptions: add an ‘s‘

In general, nouns ending in ‘ail‘ add an ‘s‘ to form the plural.

Exceptions: change to ‘aux‘

In general, nouns ending in ‘au‘, ‘eau‘ and ‘eu‘ add an ‘x‘ to form the plural.

Some Exceptions: add an ‘s‘

In general, nouns ending in ‘ou‘ add an ‘s‘ to form the plural.

Exceptions: add an ‘x‘

Words that already end in ‘s‘, ‘x‘ or ‘z‘ do not change in the plural.

Some irregular plurals include:

Mathematical symbols and abbreviated units do not change in the plural.

Exceptions:

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