Home › French Grammar › Plural of French Nouns
A1 · Nouns & Articles · Published
Plural of French Nouns
To make a French noun plural, add -s: le livre → les livres. That -s is silent, so in speech the article — les, des, ces — is what tells you the noun is plural. Every noun keeps its gender in the plural; only the ending changes.
A few endings follow their own rules: nouns already ending in -s, -x or -z stay unchanged, -eau and -eu add -x, and -al flips to -aux — each with a short list of famous exceptions.
In short
- Default: add a silent -s — les carries the plural in speech: le livre → les livres.
- Already ends in -s / -x / -z → no change: le bras → les bras, le prix → les prix.
- -eau / -au / -eu → add -x: bateaux, gâteaux, jeux (but: des pneus).
- -al → -aux: journaux, animaux (but: festivals, bals, carnavals).
plural nounarticle marking the pluralexception or irregular plural· hover a highlighted word for its label
The default: a silent -s
Most nouns add -s in writing — and nothing at all in speech. Le livre and les livres contain the same noun sound; the plural lives entirely in the article:
le livre → les livres · la table → les tables
The books are on the shelf.
— You hear the plural in Les — the -s of livres is silent.
Already ends in -s, -x, or -z: no change
A noun that already ends in -s, -x or -z has nowhere to go: the plural is identical, and only the article shows the number. Le bras → les bras, le nez → les nez.
Ticket prices are going up again.
— prix already ends in -x, so the plural form is identical.
The x-families: -eau, -eu, -al, -ail
Three endings swap the usual -s for an -x pattern, and -ail mostly stays regular but hides a famous -aux list — the heart of French plural rules:
| Singular ending | Plural | Examples | Main exceptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| -eau / -au | add -x | le bateau → les bateaux · le tuyau → les tuyaux | — |
| -eu | add -x | le jeu → les jeux | des pneus |
| -al | → -aux | le journal → les journaux · un animal → des animaux | des festivals · des bals · des carnavals |
| -ail | add -s | le détail → les détails | les travaux · les vitraux |
The boats leave the harbor early in the morning.
— bateaux takes -x because the singular ends in -eau.
He reads two newspapers every morning.
— journaux comes from journal — the -al ending flips to -aux.
-ou: -s except the famous seven
Nouns in -ou take a normal -s: des trous, des clous. Seven nouns take -x instead — the classic list French children memorize:
bijoux · cailloux · choux · genoux · hiboux · joujoux · poux
The road is full of holes.
— Most -ou nouns take a normal -s: trous.
She keeps her jewels in a little box.
— bijoux belongs to the memorized list of -ou nouns that take -x.
True irregulars
Three everyday words change shape completely in the plural:
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| un œil | des yeux |
| monsieur | messieurs |
| madame | mesdames |
Close your eyes and listen.
— yeux is the irregular plural of œil.
Common mistakes
✗Il achète deux journals à la gare.
✓Il achète deux journaux à la gare.
Nouns in -al flip to -aux in the plural; only a few exceptions like festivals, bals and carnavals take a plain -s.
✗Elle porte des bijous en or.
✓Elle porte des bijoux en or.
Bijou is one of the seven -ou nouns whose plural takes -x, along with cailloux, choux, genoux, hiboux, joujoux and poux.
✗Il a les œils fatigués.
✓Il a les yeux fatigués.
Œil has a fully irregular plural: yeux. It has to be memorized as its own word.
Check yourself
1 / 4Un gâteau, deux ___.
2 / 4Un festival, des ___.
3 / 4Un genou, des ___.
4 / 4Un pneu, des ___.
Frequently asked questions
Why can’t I hear the plural -s in French?
Because final -s is silent: livre and livres sound identical. The determiner — les, des, ces — carries the plural, sometimes helped by liaison before a vowel: les amis.
What are the seven French nouns ending in -ou that take -x?
Bijoux, cailloux, choux, genoux, hiboux, joujoux and poux — the classic list French schoolchildren memorize. Other -ou nouns take a regular -s: des trous, des clous.
Do all French nouns ending in -al become -aux?
Most do — journaux, animaux, chevaux — but the main exceptions take a plain -s: des festivals, des bals, des carnavals.
What is the plural of monsieur and madame?
Both halves of the word pluralize: monsieur → messieurs and madame → mesdames. Mademoiselle works the same way: mesdemoiselles.
Memory tip
When in doubt, add a silent -s and let the article do the talking. Save your attention for -eau and -eu (+ x), -al and a few -ail nouns (→ -aux), the seven -ou nouns that take -x, and yeux.
See this grammar in today's news
Verbalane turns current news into short French stories at your level — so the patterns you study here show up in sentences you actually want to read.
Start reading today's story