Learn French: Quelques-uns ont une amande. - A few of them have an almond.

Quelques-uns ont une amande.

A few of them have an almond.

Breakdown of Quelques-uns ont une amande.

Questions & Answers about Quelques-uns ont une amande.

Why is it quelques-uns instead of quelques-unes?

Quelques-uns is masculine plural, which tells us that the items being discussed (like chocolates or croissants) are masculine nouns in French. If we were referring to a feminine noun (like pralines), we would use quelques-unes.

Could I just say Quelques ont une amande?

No, because quelques on its own is an adjective and must be followed directly by a noun, as in quelques chocolats (a few chocolates). To say "a few of them" or "some" as a stand-alone pronoun, you have to add -uns or -unes.

Do I pronounce the S in quelques-uns?

Yes, there is a mandatory liaison. Because quelques ends in an S and uns starts with a vowel, you connect them with a Z sound, making it sound like "quel-que-zuns".

Isn't une amande a fine or a penalty?

You are thinking of une amende (spelled with an E). They are pronounced exactly the same, so you have to rely on context. In this sentence, finding a nut in your food makes sense, while finding a parking ticket doesn't!