Question 1

Why doesn't mille have an s at the end since there are two thousand?

Accepted Answer

In French, the number mille (thousand) is invariable, meaning it never changes form. Even though it is plural here, it never takes an s. Watch out, because million and milliard are considered nouns and do take an s in the plural (like deux millions).

Question 2

Can I write deux-mille with a hyphen?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can. Traditional French spelling uses a space, but the 1990 spelling reform allows hyphens between all words in a compound number. Both deux mille and deux-mille are completely correct.

Question 3

Since habitants starts with an H, do I need to make a liaison with the word before it?

Accepted Answer

The h in habitants is indeed a silent "h muet", which usually allows for a liaison with the preceding word. However, because mille already ends in a pronounced consonant sound (the L sound), there is no extra liaison letter to sound out. You just transition smoothly from the L sound directly to the A sound in habitants.

Question 4

Why use ville (town) instead of village here?

Accepted Answer

The distinction is actually based on official population numbers! Traditionally in France, a settlement with fewer than 2,000 residents is considered a village, while one with 2,000 or more is a ville. So this place is exactly at the threshold to be classified as a ville.

Cette ville a deux mille habitants.

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