French grammar
French plurals: les, des and the silent -s
French plurals are heard in the article, not in the noun. Chat and chats sound the same; le chat and les chats do not. Les is the plural the for both genders, des is the plural of un and une (some), and before a vowel both hand over a z sound: les écoles. English often drops some, but French keeps des.
In short
- Plural the is les for both genders: les chats, les maisons.
- Written plurals add -s, but it is silent. The article carries the number: le chat / les chats differ only in the article.
- des is the plural of un and une, some: il y a des chats. French keeps it where English drops some.
- For uncountables, some is the partitive du, de la or de l': du pain, de la soupe, de l'eau. For things you can count, the plural some is des: des croissants.
- Before a vowel, les and des link with a z sound: les écoles, des hôtels.
The plural door
«les» — the plural 'the' (lay), one article for both sides: «les chats» — the cats, «les chiens» — the dogs. The French secret: the plural -s is SILENT — chat and chats are one sound. The word you HEAR is «les». From today, your ears follow the article.
Les chats
the cats
Les chiens
the dogs
Le chat
The cat (just one).
Elle est très grande
she is very tall
Les chats et les chiens
the cats and the dogs
Some, and how many
«des» is some, the plural of un/une (pronounced like 'day'): «Il y a des chats ici», there are (some) cats here. Numbers work the same way: «deux chats», «trois chiens». The plural -s appears in writing, but «des» or the number does the talking.
Il y a des chats ici
there are cats here
Il y a des chiens ici
there are (some) dogs here
J'ai deux chats
I have two cats
J'aime les chats
I like cats
Order by the handful
«Je voudrais deux croissants, s'il vous plaît»: an order, multiplied. And «les livres», the books (lay LEE-vruh, the -s asleep as always). Counting works on everything: deux livres, trois croissants.
Je voudrais deux croissants
I would like two croissants
Je voudrais trois croissants
I would like three croissants.
J'aime les livres
I like books
Je voudrais deux croissants s'il vous plaît
I'd like two croissants, please
The sound between words
Before a vowel, «les» hands over a hidden z: «les écoles» — lay-Z-ay-kohl. The z isn't written anywhere; it lives between the words. And it's choosy: consonants refuse it («les chats» — no z), and «et» NEVER links. Your ear learns the junctions now.
Les écoles
the schools
Les hôtels
the hotels
Practice this in Open Lingo
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Keep going
- Grammar guideFrench liaison and silent lettersWhich French letters are silent, which final consonants are heard, how a final -e wakes a consonant, and when liaison adds a sound between words.
- Grammar guideLe vs laHow French noun gender works: when to use le, la, un, une and l', why meaning does not decide it, and how to learn the gender with the word.
- Grammar guideIl y aHow to say there is, there are and there isn't in French with il y a, il n'y a pas de and des, with pronunciation and course examples.
- ToolNumbers 1 to 100 and converterEvery French number from 0 to 100 in a printable table, a converter that writes out any number up to 999,999, and the rules behind 70, 80, 90 and et un.