Making Adjectives Plural in French

In French, adjectives (the words that describe nouns) need to match the nouns they describe. This means if the noun is plural (more than one), the adjective also has to be plural. Let’s go over how to change adjectives to plural in French.

1. Basic Rules for Pluralizing Adjectives

General Rule:

• To change an adjective from singular (one) to plural (more than one) in French, you usually add -s to the end of it.

Example:

• Singular: un livre intéressant (an interesting book)
• Plural: des livres intéressants (interesting books)

Exceptions:

Some adjectives don’t follow this rule:

• If an adjective ends in -eau or -eu, you usually add -x instead.

  Example:

  • Singular: un chapeau beau (a beautiful hat)
  • Plural: des chapeaux beaux (beautiful hats)

• If an adjective ends in -al, it changes to -aux in the plural form.

  Example:

  • Singular: un animal spécial (a special animal)
  • Plural: des animaux spéciaux (special animals)

2. Gender Matters

Adjectives also need to match the gender of the noun. If the noun is feminine, the adjective often has an -e in its singular form:

Example:

• Masculine: un gâteau délicieux (a delicious cake)
• Feminine: une tarte délicieuse (a delicious tart)

For plural feminine nouns, just add -s:

Example:

• Plural Feminine: des tartes délicieuses (delicious tarts)

3. Quick Vocabulary Guide

Here are some helpful adjectives and how they change to plural:

| Singular Adjective | Plural Adjective | |---------------------|-------------------| | beau/belle | beaux/belles | | grand/grande | grands/grandes | | petit/petite | petits/petites | | nouveau/nouvelle | nouveaux/nouvelles|

4. Sample Sentences

• Les enfants sont gentils. (The children are nice.)
• J'ai vu des films intéressants. (I saw interesting movies.)
• Les fleurs sont jolies. (The flowers are pretty.)

Conclusion

The key to making adjectives plural in French is making sure they match the nouns in both gender and number. Practice these rules to get better at French grammar!