[Originally posted on 12/29/18 on the Duolingo French for English speakers forum by CommeuneTexane]
Plural Nouns and Adjectives
Most French nouns and adjectives can be pluralized by adding an ending -s, like in English.
- un hôtel ⇒ des hôtels (hotels)
- un jardin ⇒ des jardins (gardens)
The plural forms for most words ending in -ail are regular and made with an -s at the end.
- un détail ⇒ des détails (details)
- un épouvantail ⇒ des épouvantails (scarecrows)
EXCEPTIONS
There are seven exceptions: un bail/des baux (leases), un corail/des coraux (coral(s)), un émail/des émaux (emails), un soupirail/des soupiraux (ventilators), un travail/des travaux (a job/works), un ventail/des ventaux (leaves or casements), un vitrail/des vitraux (stained glass(es)).
Words that do not end with an -s in the plural form typically end in -x. For instance, most words ending in -al change to -aux.
- un animal ⇒ des animaux (animals)
- un journal ⇒ des journaux (newspapers)
EXCEPTIONS
These words ending in -al are exceptions: un bal/des bals (balls/formal dances), un festival/des festivals (festivals), un carnaval/des carnavals (carnivals), un cal/des cals (calluses), un régal/des régals (treats or delights), un chacal/des chacals (jackals).
Add -x to the end of most nouns that end in -au, -eau, and -eu to pluralize them.
- un tuyau ⇒ des tuyaux (pipes)
- mon chapeau ⇒ mes chapeaux (my hats)
- le feu ⇒ les feux (the fires)
Seven masculine nouns ending in -ou also add an -x in the plural.
- bijou/bijoux (jewels), caillou/cailloux (pebbles), chou/choux (cabbages), genou/genoux (knees), hibou/hiboux (owls), joujou/joujoux (toys), pou/poux (lice).
The plural forms of -au, -eau, -eu, and -ou words are homophones of their singular forms. In general, the best way to tell if a noun is plural is to listen carefully to its article. If you hear les or des, it’s plural. Otherwise, it’s probably singular.
Masculine & Feminine Adjectives
Similarly, masculine singular adjectives ending in -al take on -aux endings in the plural. However, feminine singular adjectives ending in -ale simply add an ending -s.
- général ⇒ généraux (general)
- générale ⇒ générales (general)
- idéal ⇒ idéaux (ideal)
- idéale ⇒ idéales (ideal)
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