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### Irregular plurals: Endings in -al

You've already seen that some words take an **-x** instead of an **-s** in the plural. Here is another common pattern!

When a masculine singular noun ends in **-al**, drop the **-al** and add **-aux** to make it plural. For example, **un cheval** (a horse) becomes **des chevaux** (horses).

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This same rule applies to adjectives! To describe masculine plural nouns, an adjective that normally ends in **-al** changes to **-aux** (like **génial** changing to **géniaux** or **national** changing to **nationaux**).

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You will often see these plural nouns and adjectives paired together in the same sentence.

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Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular 'to be' and indefinite articles (je suis un...)

Singular definite articles (le, la, l')

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Knowing facts vs. familiarity (savoir, connaître)

Question	Answer
the horse	le cheval
Are there a lot of horses here?	Est-ce qu'il y a beaucoup de chevaux ici ?
Horses are magnificent animals.	Les chevaux sont des animaux magnifiques.
great/brilliant	génial
We admired some great animals!	Nous avons admiré des animaux géniaux !
local	local
Why did you visit the local hospitals?	Pourquoi est-ce que vous avez visité les hôpitaux locaux ?
the canal	le canal
The city has magnificent canals.	La ville a des canaux magnifiques.
We explored the local canals.	Nous avons exploré les canaux locaux.
Do you want to visit the local markets?	Est-ce que tu veux visiter les marchés locaux ?
national	national
They announced the national events yesterday.	Ils ont annoncé les événements nationaux hier.
These are national monuments.	Ce sont des monuments nationaux.
international	international
There are a lot of international airports in the world.	Il y a beaucoup d'aéroports internationaux dans le monde.
Their international projects are great!	Leurs projets internationaux sont géniaux !
Where are the local newspapers?	Où sont les journaux locaux ?
main/principal	principal
They explained the main problems.	Ils ont expliqué les problèmes principaux.
general	général
The general directors are our main clients.	Les directeurs généraux sont nos clients principaux.
original	original
He prepared some original desserts.	Il a préparé des desserts originaux.
special	spécial
The animals here are special and very original.	Les animaux ici sont spéciaux et très originaux.
The general directors like the special projects.	Les directeurs généraux aiment les projets spéciaux.
the pig	le cochon
The pig is an animal.	Le cochon est un animal.
The pigs are in the garden.	Les cochons sont dans le jardin.
the duck	le canard
There is a duck on the lake.	Il y a un canard sur le lac.
Ducks and horses are animals.	Les canards et les chevaux sont des animaux.

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