Au singulier, cet adjectif ne se prononce pas comme au pluriel.

not

Breakdown of Au singulier, cet adjectif ne se prononce pas comme au pluriel.

• cet: this
• au: in the
• comme: like

Questions & Answers about Au singulier, cet adjectif ne se prononce pas comme au pluriel.

Why does the sentence start with Au singulier?

Au singulier sets the context first: it means in the singular form or when the word is singular.

French often puts this kind of phrase at the beginning of the sentence to frame what follows. In English, we might also do this:

• In the singular, ...
• When singular, ...

So the sentence structure is very natural in French.

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What does au mean here?

Au is the contraction of à + le.

• à le → au

In this sentence, au singulier is a fixed expression meaning in the singular.

You will often see similar expressions:

• au pluriel = in the plural
• au masculin = in the masculine
• au féminin = in the feminine

So this is not a special one-time usage; it is a very common grammatical pattern.

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Why is it au singulier and au pluriel, not en singulier and en pluriel?