CONTENT
  1. The Basic Agreement
  2. Exceptions

We have already covered the topic of the agreement of singular adjectives in French. In the case of the plural ones, the situation is the same - there is one general rule and a few exceptions.

French

English

Les belles maisons.

Beautiful houses.

The Basic Agreement

Rule 1: The plural form of masculine adjectives is usually created by adding an -s ending:

French

English

Les bons garçons.

Good boys.

Rule 2: The plural form of feminine adjectives is usually created by adding an -es ending:

French

English

Les grandes maisons.

Big houses.

Exception: If the adjective already ends with an e, we only add -s:

French

English

Les feuilles jaunes.

Yellow leaves.

Exceptions

Rule 3: If the adjective ends with -s or -x, it remains the same in the plural form:

French

English

Les fromages français.

French cheeses.

Rule 4: If the adjective ends with -al, we construct the masculine plural form by changing it to -aux.

French

English

Les hymnes nationaux.

National anthems.

In that case, the feminine forms are also constructed by adding -es:

French

English

Les archives nationales.

The national archives.

However, note that there are several adjectives that end with -al - but their plural form is created by only adding -s or -es in masculine and feminine forms respectively.

  • bancal
  • banal
  • fatal
  • final
  • natal
  • naval

For example:

French

English

Les phrases banales.

Banal phrases.

Quiz

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Les _ bols de lait

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correct answers.