How to Form the Plural in French - Part 2 of 4

Those who grow up speaking English have it fairly easy when it comes to forming the plural of words (talking about more than one of a certain thing). Most of the time we just add s.

There are exceptions, though, which can make English a complicated language to learn.

Here are some examples of irregular plurals:
man > men
mouse > mice
deer > deer

Just as there are different ways to show the plural in English, there are also different ways to show the plural in French.

One of the commonest of these is to add x instead of s at the end of a word. Here are some examples in French:

chapeau = hat
chapeaux = hats

manteau = coat
manteaux = coats

Can you think of some other French words that form the plural by adding the letter x?
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How to Form the Plural in French - Part 1 of 4

Thankfully for those English speakers who are trying to learn French, the most common way to form the plural (showing more than one of something) in French is also the easiest! It is the same as in English, just add s!

Before we get too excited, though, there are some other things we need to remember!

The final s that we add in English is pronounced. It can be pronounced like s, as in cups, or like z, as in birds, but it is spoken aloud to let the listener know that the speaker is referring to more than one of a particular thing.

French isn't quite so obvious. The final s is added, yes, but this s is not usually pronounced. French lets you know the noun is plural by the article (like the or a in English) that goes with it, either les or des.

The English equivalent would be either the, which doesn't tell how many in English, or some or any, which also doesn't necessarily say a lot about quantity: "I would like some orange juice, please."

les = the
des = some, any

la tasse (la TAS) = the cup
les tasse (lay TAS) = the cups

une tasse (eeoon* TAS) = a cup, one cup
des tasses (day TAS) = some cups, any cups

Paul veut une tasse de café. Avez-vous des tasses?
= Paul wants a cup of coffee. Do you have any cups?

So remember to use les or des to show the plural when you are speaking.

*This French u sound can be tricky to pronounce! Hold your tongue and teeth like you are saying "ee" and your lips like you are saying "oo" in food.
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Forming the Negative in French - ne...pas

To form the negative in French, we usually use two little words, ne and pas. We place ne in front of the verb and pas after the verb. English mostly gets by with one word, not. For example:

French - je vais - je ne vais pas
English - I am going - I am not going

We can see that ne and not are very similar; both can make the sentence negative. But where does this extra little word "pas" come from?

The word "pas" in French also has another meaning. It is a noun that means "step," as in to take a step forward. If you are a ballet fan, you have heard of the expression "pas de deux" used to describe a dance for two people.

Linguists tell us that the use of "pas" as a negative came from people using pas in its original meaning of a step.

Just as in English we might say "I am not walking one step," in French the expression at one time was "je ne march pas," with the meaning of "I am not walking a step."

This use of "pas" became extended to apply in other cases also, and so evolved into the present day use of "pas" in most negative sentences.

This process of turning a noun into a grammatical word is called "grammaticalization" by those who study the history and evolution of languages. The French use of "pas" is just one example of this.

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