French plural nouns (-s, -x, -aux and irregulars: les livres, des yeux)

Les enfants regardent des chevaux.The children are looking at some horses.

Most French nouns become plural by adding -s to the written form — but that -s is silent, so in speech the plural is carried by the word in front of the noun: le livre → les livres, un livre → des livres.

Quick shortcut: written plural = usually + -s; for regular nouns the spoken plural is mainly the article (les, des), plus a /z/ liaison before a vowel.

Most nouns: add a silent -s

The regular plural just adds -s:

• un livre → des livres
• la table → les tables
• une idée → des idées

You don't hear the -s. Said aloud, le livre and les livres often sound alike before a consonant; the reliable spoken contrast is un livre → des livres.

The plural you hear is the article

For regular nouns, whose singular and plural forms sound alike, the plural lives in the article:

• le / la / l' → les   (les livres, les tables, les amis)
• un / une → des   (des livres, des tables, des amis)

Before a vowel, les and des also link with a /z/: les‿amis, des‿écoles. For a word like livre the plural is reliably audible with un → des or through liaison (les‿amis); le livre and les livres before a consonant often sound the same. (Some irregular plurals — cheval → chevaux, œil → yeux — do change audibly in the noun itself.)

Nouns already ending in -s, -x or -z

If the singular already ends in -s, -x or -z, the plural is spelled the same:

• un bus → des bus
• une voix → des voix
• le nez → les nez

Only the article changes.

Nouns in -eau, -eu and -al

Some endings usually take a different plural spelling:

Common exceptions: un pneu → des pneus and un bleu → des bleus keep the -s; un bal / un festival / un carnaval also take a plain -s (des festivals). Nouns in -ail usually add -s (un détail → des détails), but un travail → des travaux.

A few irregular plurals

A small set changes shape:

• un œil → des yeux
• monsieur → messieurs
• madame → mesdames
• mademoiselle → mesdemoiselles

Family names don't take -s: les Martin, les Dupont.

The article and the adjective change too

Plural spreads to the words around the noun. Adjectives take the plural ending, and so do possessive determiners:

• un grand livre → des grands livres
• ma sœur → mes sœurs

Gender still matters in the plural: des amis is a group of men or a mixed group, des amies a group of women only — the same gender that picks le / la in the singular (noun gender). This carries over into adjective agreement and possessive adjectives.

Common mistakes

• ❌ pronouncing the -s of les livres → ✅ the -s stays silent; you hear les
• ❌ le livres → ✅ les livres (the article goes plural too)
• ❌ des cheval → ✅ des chevaux (-al → -aux)
• ❌ des œils → ✅ des yeux
• ❌ des buses → ✅ des bus (a noun ending in -s doesn't change)

Quick check

Put each phrase into the plural.

1. un livre → ____
2. le journal → ____
3. une voix → ____
4. un bateau → ____
5. un œil → ____

Key takeaways

• The regular plural adds a silent -s: un livre → des livres.
• For most regular nouns the spoken plural is mainly the article (les, des), plus a /z/ liaison before a vowel; the irregulars (chevaux, yeux) do change audibly.
• Nouns ending in -s, -x or -z don't change: des bus, des voix.
• -eau → -eaux, -eu → -eux, -al → -aux (des bateaux, des jeux, des chevaux), with a few -s exceptions.
• Learn the irregulars un œil → des yeux and monsieur → messieurs.
• Plural also reaches the adjective and the possessive determiner: des grands livres, mes sœurs.