Frernch Masculine Feminin

8/17/2019 Frernch Masculine Feminin

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Forming Plural from Singular Adjectives

The plural of most adjectives i s f ormed by a dding s to the singular of the masculine or

feminine adjective, as s hown in Table 1 (feminine form in parentheses).

An a djective m odifying two o r more n ouns o f different genders u ses t he m asculineplural: L'homme et sa femme sont généreux . (The man and his w ife are generous.)

Masculine singular ad jectives that end in s or x

If a masculine singular adjective ends i n s or x , the singular and plural are identical, asshown in Ta ble 2 .


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Masculine singular ad jectives that end in al

For most masculine adjectives e nding in ‐ al , change ‐ al to ‐ aux in the plural:

For most masculine adjectives ending in ‐ , change ‐ to ‐ in the plural:

Masculine irregular si ngular ad jectives

Both masculine singular f orms o f beau (bel), nouveau (nouvel) , and vieux (vieil) have on e a nd the

same p lural form. (Note that des becomes de before the adjective). See the “Masculine irregularadjectives” art icle for a better understanding of using bel, nouvel , and vieil .

Both masculine singular forms of , and have one and the same plural form. (Note that becomes before the adjective). See the “ asculine irregular adjectives! article for a better understandingof using , and .

The adjective tout (all) is irregular in the masculine plural:


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• Singular: tout• Plural: tous

How to Translate French Words into Plural Form

By Dianne Brooks

It is not difficult to learn how to translate french words to plural form.As in any other language, you must learn some basic rules, as well asthe exceptions and you will be able to speak and write accurately.

When and How to Translate French Words to the PluralForm

In the French language nouns can be masculine or feminine, singluaror plural. Nouns usually must agree in gender le genre as well asnumber le nombre .

Le pluriel is used when referring to more than one thing or person.There are plural nouns noms , pronouns pronoms , articles articles and

adjecti es adjectifs .

!ne of the ery first things you learn in French is that there aresingular and plural articles and pronouns. The singular masculin articleis le , the singular feminine article is la . The plural of both is les .

http://www.lovetoknow.com/member/253~dianne-brookshttp://french.lovetoknow.com/Free_French_Noun_Gender_Listhttp://french.lovetoknow.com/Free_French_Noun_Gender_Listhttp://www.lovetoknow.com/member/253~dianne-brooks


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The singular pronouns are je "I#, tu "you#, il "he# and elle "she#. Theplural pronouns are$

• vous "you#

• nous "we#

• ils"they, masculine#

• elles "they, feminine#

If you are referring to a group of men and women, you would use ils .

Plural of Adjectives and Nouns

In general, in order to form the plural you add an s to all words exceptwords that already end in s , x , or z in their singular form.

Regular Adjectives and Nouns

Singular Plural

la carte(the card) les cartes

petite(small) petites

le vers(the verse) le vers

malheureux(unhappy) malheureux

le nez(the nose) les nez

Irre ular Plurals%ome French words re&uire that you change the ending completely.

aux and x endin s

%ome words that end in al become aux in the plural form.


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al to aux

Singular Plural

journal journaux

animal animaux

royal royaux

spécial spéciaux

radical radicaux

There are some exceptions to this rule. The following are examples ofwords that end in al but take an s$

• bal"s#

• banal"s#

• festi al"s#

• banal"s#

• final"s#

%ome words that end in ail become aux in the plural form. Forexample travail "work# becomes travaux . !n the other hand otherwords that end in ail take an s such as détail "detail# whichbecomes détails .

'ords with the following endings take x instead of s when theybecome plural$

• bij ou becomes bijoux "jewerly#

• rid eau becomes rideaux "curtains#


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• ne eu becomes neveux "nephews#

• noy au becomes noyaux "stones, pits#

The exceptions are bleu(s) "blue# and pneux(s) "tire#

!"tremely Irre ular Plurals

%ome words are ery irregular but are then easy to memori(e$

• oeil "eye# becomes yeux

• ciel "sky# becomes cieux

• monsieur becomes messieurs

• madame becomes mesdames

• mademoiselle becomes mesdemoiselles

#om$ound Words

There are some special rules for words that are formed by putting two

separate words together with an - in between. )sually if the compoundword consists of a preposition or a verb those words do not changeform. For example$

• Le gratte-ciel de New Yor sont plus !auts "ue ceux de Los #ngeles$ "The skyscrapers in New *ork are higher than thosein +os Angeles.#

• %lles passent leur aprés-midi & la campagne$ "They spent

their afternoon in the country.#

ompound words formed by adjecti es and nouns do change form.

!n lish Words in French


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There are many -nglish words that ha e been adopted by the Frenchlanguage. In order to make these words plural add an s or es $

• supermarc!é becomes supermarc!és

• sandwic! becomes sandwic!es

• pi"ue-ni"ue becomes pi&ue ni&ues//

Words That Do Not #han e Form

%ome words ne er become plural such as family names or surnames,for example Les 'resson . The exception is for the name of the royalfamily like Les 'ourbons .%ome words are always plural suchas vacances " acation# and mat!émati"ues "mathematics#.

It is not at all difficult to learn how to translate french words to pluralform once you learn your ocabulary and the rules and exceptions.

Forming Plural from Singular Adjectives

The plural of most adjectives i s f ormed by a dding s to the singular of the masculine orfeminine adjective, as s hown in Table 1 (feminine form in parentheses).

http://french.lovetoknow.com/French_Vocabulary_Listshttp://french.lovetoknow.com/French_Vocabulary_Lists


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An a djective m odifying two o r more n ouns o f different genders u ses t he m asculineplural: L'homme et sa femme sont généreux . (The man and his w ife are generous.)

Masculine singular ad jectives that end in s or x

If a masculine singular adjective ends i n s or x , the singular and plural are identical, asshown in Ta ble 2 .


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Masculine singular ad jectives that end in al

For most masculine adjectives e nding in ‐ al , change ‐ al to ‐ aux in the plural:

For most masculine adjectives ending in ‐ , change ‐ to ‐ in the plural:

Masculine irregular si ngular ad jectives

Both masculine singular f orms o f beau (bel), nouveau (nouvel) , and vieux (vieil) have on e a nd thesame p lural form. (Note that des becomes de before the adjective). See the “Masculine irregularadjectives” art icle for a better understanding of using bel, nouvel , and vieil .

Both masculine singular forms of , and have one and the same plural form. (Note that becomes before the adjective). See the “ asculine irregular adjectives! article for a better understandingof using , and .

The adjective tout (all) is irregular in the masculine plural:

• Singular: tout• Plural: tous

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Frernch Masculine Feminin