Forms   Differences   Exercises

Number

On this page we will deal with the concept of number as it applies to nouns, adjectives and determiners.  For information about numbers like one, two, three or first, second, third, see numerals.

Forms

In English, nouns have usually two forms: singular and plural. Plurals usually end in -s,

day, days; hour, hours; time, times; house, houses 

child, children

In French, nouns also have singular and plural forms and the plurals usually end in -s. Notice some of the more common exceptions in the second part of the list: 

 jour, jours; heure, heures; fois, fois; maison, maisons 

 château, châteaux; bateau, bateaux (boat); eau,eaux (water)

Differences 

The way French deals with number in noun phrases is different from the way English deals with it. The most obvious difference is that French pluralizes not only nouns but also determiners (the...) and adjectives. 

Exercises