Irregular French Plural Form: Plural of Nouns Ending in –AL, -AIL, -AU, -EAU And Adjectives Ending in –AL

In French, nouns ending in –AL, -AIL, -AU, EAU have specific forms in the plural.

They do not follow always the same rule.

The adjectives ending in –AL usually take the –AUX form in the masculine plural, and the –ALES form is the feminine plural. However, we will notice that some accept both forms –AUX and –ALS in the masculine plural.

To conclude, we will have some words in context.

1. Nouns ending in -AL

Nouns ending in –AL has their plural form in –AUX.

For example:

We have some exceptions of plural ending in –ALS. They do not turn to –AUX form but become –ALS :

2. Nouns ending in –AIL

Nouns ending in –AIL have generally their plural form in –AILS.

For example:

We have some exceptions of nouns ending in –AIL whose plural form ends in –AUX:

NOTE : 

In some cases, the nouns bail, émail and travail can accept a plural form in –AILS.

3. Nouns ending in –AU an in –EAU

Nouns ending in –AU or –EAU in singular take respectively the –AUX or –EAUX form.

For example:

We have only one exception to this rule:

NOTE: 

When plural form ends with the sound [o], you can find the right written form by finding the noun in singular:

Un chameau> des chameaux

Un cheval > des chevaux

If the singular form ends in –AL, the plural noun will end in –AUX.

If the singular form ends in –EAU, the plural noun will end in –EAUX.

4. Adjectives ending in –AL and their plural form

4.1. Adjectives in masculine plural form -AUX

Adjectives in French are accorded in number and gender to the noun they qualify.

Generally, adjectives ending in –AL take the –AUX form in the masculine plural.

For example

4.2. Adjectives ending in –AL and their masculine plural form in -ALS

We also have some exceptions to the rule: some adjectives ending in –AL still keep their form with an –S at the end of their plural form:

4.3. Adjectives ending in –AL that can accept both plural forms –ALS and –AUX

Some adjectives ending in –AL can accept the two forms –ALS and –AUX in masculine plural.

Here is a sample:

4.4 Adjectives in feminine plural form -ALES

Adjectives ending in –AL will take the –ALES form in feminine plural version.

For example :

5. Words in context

Select the correct plural form of the nouns and adjectives:

CORRECTION: