French Teaching Resources. Plurals of Nouns.

This information sheet presents the following information:

Example EXTRACT:

Plural of nouns.
Normally we add an “s”
e.g. un livre des livres.

Nouns which end in s, x, z add nothing.
e.g. un bois des bois.
une vis des vis.


Nouns ending –eau, -au and -eu add an "x"
e.g un cadeau des cadeaux.
un tuyau des tuyaux.

The following nouns ending in –ou add an “x”:
Un bijou des bijoux.
Un caillou des cailloux.
Un chou des choux.

Others form the plural with –s
e.g. un clou des clous.

Nouns ending in –al and -ail form their plural in –aux.
Un cheval des chevaux.
But not un bal, un carnaval, un festival, un detail, un éventail where you add an “s”

Watch out! Un œil deux yeux.

Compound Nouns.
Generally, verb + noun either add nothing (inv) or an “s” is added to the second part:
e.g. un porte-crayon des porte-crayons.

If the compound is of two nouns, both parts are made plural.
e.g. un chou-fleur des choux-fleurs.