A day in the life of a journalist: plural masculine nouns '-x' and '-aux' | French

Starter quiz

Which nouns are plural?
- fille (f)
- personne (f)
- ordinateurs (m) ✓
- enfant (m)
- lits (m) ✓
Match the French and English.
- sortir
  
  ⇔
  
  to go out, exit ✓
- dormir
  
  ⇔
  
  to sleep, sleeping ✓
- partir
  
  ⇔
  
  to leave, leaving ✓
- devenir
  
  ⇔
  
  to become, becoming ✓
- revenir
  
  ⇔
  
  to come back, coming back ✓
- venir
  
  ⇔
  
  to come, coming ✓
'Je sors ______ mes parents'. Choose the correct missing word.
- assez
- dans
- en
- sans ✓
- très
Order the words to say: 'he lives in France, near the Swiss border'.
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  il
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  habite
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  en
- 4
  
  ⇔
  
  France
- 5
  
  ⇔
  
  près de
- 6
  
  ⇔
  
  la frontière
- 7
  
  ⇔
  
  suisse
Write in English: 'je traverse le forêt'.
- 'I cross the forest.' ✓
Write in French: 'there was a mountain'.
- 'Il y avait une montagne.' ✓

Exit quiz

In French, stress __________ with a slight emphasis on __________.
- the first syllable, the final syllable
- the final syllable, the first syllable
- all syllables equally, the first syllable
- all syllables equally, the final syllable ✓
To make ______ French nouns plural, add -s to the end of the word.
- all
- most ✓
- all masculine
- all feminine
Match the French and English.
- feu
  
  ⇔
  
  fire ✓
- feux
  
  ⇔
  
  fires ✓
- journal
  
  ⇔
  
  newspaper ✓
- journaux
  
  ⇔
  
  newspapers ✓
- réseau
  
  ⇔
  
  network ✓
- réseaux
  
  ⇔
  
  networks ✓
Write in French: 'the dogs are big'.
- 'Les chiens sont grands.' ✓
Write in French: 'the birds are here'.
- 'Les oiseaux sont ici.' ✓
Write in French: 'the hospitals are small'.
- 'Les hôpitaux sont petits.' ✓

Worksheet

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

French is not a stress-timed language. Sound all vowels. Say syllables equally with a slight emphasis on the last one.
Add -s to the majority of nouns to make them plural.
Add -x to masculine nouns ending in -eau or -eu. There is no difference in pronunciation because 'x' is a SFC.
Masculine nouns ending -al or -ail end in -aux in the plural form; the singular and plural forms sound different.

Common misconception

Add -s to make all nouns plural in French.

Many nouns do need an -s in the plural form but masculine nouns ending in -eau or -eu need -x adding in the plural form, and there are other exceptions.

Keywords

Stress - pronouncing one syllable more heavily than other syllables in a word
Noun - word for a person, place or thing