Grammaire 1: pluralizing
On étudie !
(a) La formation du pluriel
As in English, the plural is generally formed by adding an s to the end of the singular form of the noun: étudiant is singular and étudiants is plural.
Note, however, that the s is not pronounced. In spoken language, the article is often the only indication that a noun is singular or plural.
Exemples: un étudiant/des étudiants; une chaussure/des chaussures. (a student/students; a shoe/shoes)
Keep in mind that there are exceptions and that not all words follow the rule above (more on this in section 6).
(b) Les articles
Articles that accompany French plural nouns must also be pluralize. Below is the full list of articles we have seen so far (including their plurals). Note there are no distinct plural articles for masculine or feminine nouns.
| Gender | DEFINITE (the) | INDEFINITE (a, an) |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine
Feminine (in front of word beginning with a vowel, mute h) Plural |
le
la l’ les |
un
une
des |
The table below also contains adjectives which must also be pluralized.
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
|---|---|
| le blouson jaune (the windbreaker)
la robe bleue (the blue dress) l‘autre chemise (the other shirt) un chapeau noir (a black hat) une jupe blanche (a white skirt) |
les blousons jaunes (the yellow windbreaker)
les robes bleues (the blue dresses) les autres chemises (the other shirts) des chapeaux noirs (black hats) des jupes blanches (white skirts) |
