Chapitre Un
Gender and Number: La pluralisation
Exercices 1.18-1.21
Gender and Number: Pluralization
Before putting this new vocabulary to use, let’s look at how to make words plural in French. In addition to pluralizing the noun itself, the article must ALSO be pluralized.
In general, add –s.
Un pupitre becomes… des pupitres
If a word ends in “x,” leave it as “x.” If a word ends in “s,” leave it as “s.”
If a word ends in “al,” generally the plural is formed by changing it to “aux.”
Mon père lit le journal. Les journaux arrivent à 5 heures du matin.
Mon frère est un étudiant international. Tous ses amis sont des étudiants internationaux.
If a word ends in “eau,” “eu,” or “au,” generally the plural is formed by adding “x.”
Ce château est le plus grand de tous les châteaux.
Mon neveu Luc est brun, mais mes neveux Paul et Charles sont blonds.
Some common exceptions
Exercice 1.18
Exercice 1.19
Exercice 1.20
Exercice 1.21
Audio 1.b
Masculine singular definite article: the
Feminine singular definite article: the
used before a vowel or an h to replace le or la: the
this pronoun has different meanings depending on its function:
plural definite article: the
direct object: them
Masculine singular indefinite article: a/an
Feminine singular indefinite article: a/an
Plural indefinite article: some
book
books
apple
apples
student desk
student desks
table
tables
price/prices
voice/voices
atlas/atlases
pineapple/pineapples
My (followed by masculine singular noun)
father
reads
newspaper
newspapers
arrive
at
5 a.m.
brother
is
international student
all
his or her (followed by plural noun)
friends
are
international students
this (followed by masculine singular noun beginning with a consonant other than "h")
castle
largest
of
castles
nephew
dark-haired/brunette
but
my (followed by a plural noun)
nephews
and
blond
fatal
final
blue
job/work
fatal
final
blue
jobs