Verb drill
French plural s: write livres, say /livʁ/
Why livre and livres sound alike: compare whole phrases, keep written agreement and practise eight plural forms with picture cards and a short drill.
- A1
- 8 answers
- Checked all at once
- Accents count
- Learn this in the A1 notebook →
In short
The plural s in livres is silent: livre and livres both have /livʁ/. You still write the ending. In a complete phrase, words such as les, des and deux help you recognise the plural.
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| One | More than one | Noun sound |
|---|---|---|
| le livre | les livres | /livʁ/ |
| un sac | des sacs | /sak/ |
| la robe | les robes | /ʁɔb/ |
| une chaussure | deux chaussures | /ʃosyʁ/ |
Compare le livre and les livres. The noun stays the same, but the article changes: le has /lə/, while les commonly has /le/. Say the complete phrase so the small word can do its job.
One object on the card; several in your sentence
Find:
Is the plural s pronounced in French?
La robe est bleue.
The dress is blue.
Les robes sont bleues.
The dresses are blue.
Robe/robes share /ʁɔb/; bleue/bleues share /blø/. The article and verb help signal the plural.
For regular plurals, add s to both noun and agreeing adjective: un sac noir becomes des sacs noirs. Keep that spelling even when neither added letter is audible. Colour words such as orange and marron follow a separate agreement pattern; the drill below uses regular adjectives.
Change the writing, keep the familiar noun sound
Use the plural word shown in the hint. Type only the missing noun or adjective. Read the completed sentence aloud after checking it.
1 · Write the plural noun
- Les sont sur la table. (livre → plural)
- J’ai deux noirs. (sac → plural)
- Les sont bleues. (robe → plural)
- Ces sont blanches. (chaussure → plural)
2 · Keep the adjective agreement
- Les sacs sont . (noir → plural)
- Les robes sont . (bleue → plural)
- Les chaussures sont . (blanche → plural)
- Les petites tables sont . (ronde → plural)
When does the plural s link to the next word?
Les amis arrivent.
The friends are arriving.
The s in les gives a linking /z/ before amis. The final s of amis stays silent in an ordinary conversational reading.
Learn familiar liaison phrases as a unit. The /z/ in les amis comes from a particular article–noun boundary. A plural noun before another word follows its own rules. Some plurals also change their sound more substantially: cheval /ʃəval/ becomes chevaux /ʃəvo/.