Plural Nouns
बहुवचन संज्ञाएँ
Hindi plurals already depend on the noun's gender and final vowel — लड़का becomes लड़के, किताब becomes किताबें, गाड़ी becomes गाड़ियाँ — so the idea that a single suffix doesn't cover every noun is nothing new. What is new is that French plurals are mostly written but silent: you often can't hear the difference between singular and plural at all, and have to listen to the article instead. Hindi's plural shifts are always audible, no exceptions, which makes French's silent -s the harder habit to build.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
Regular plural: +s, but silent
le livre → les livres (the -s is written, not pronounced)
हिंदी में बहुवचन हमेशा सुनाई देता है; फ्रेंच का -s अक्सर मौन रहता है
Most French nouns simply add -s in writing to form the plural, but that final -s is silent in speech. le livre and les livres sound almost identical except for the article: luh leev-ruh vs lay leev-ruh. This is the opposite of Hindi, where a plural shift like किताब → किताबें or लड़का → लड़के is always audible — in French, your ear has to catch the article, not the noun ending.
-eau / -eu → +x
le bateau → les bateaux (boat), le jeu → les jeux (game)
-eau/-eu में समाप्त होने वाले शब्द बहुवचन में -x लेते हैं
Nouns ending in -eau or -eu take -x instead of -s in the plural (still silent). This is just a spelling convention inherited from Old French — there's no meaningful sound difference from the regular +s pattern, and no Hindi parallel to lean on here, since Hindi plural endings are always audible. Just memorize the spelling.
-al → -aux
le cheval → les chevaux (horse), le journal → les journaux (newspaper)
-al में समाप्त होने वाले अधिकतर शब्द -aux में बदल जाते हैं
Most nouns ending in -al swap that ending for -aux in the plural — this one is actually audible, unlike the silent -s/-x patterns, so it behaves a little more like a Hindi plural shift (कुत्ता → कुत्ते is audible too). A handful of common exceptions keep the regular +s (le bal → les bals, le festival → les festivals), so this pattern needs to be learned noun by noun, not applied blindly.
Invariable nouns
le fils → les fils (son/sons), la souris → les souris (mouse/mice)
-s, -x, -z में समाप्त होने वाले शब्द बहुवचन में बदलते ही नहीं
Nouns that already end in -s, -x, or -z in the singular don't change at all in the plural — le fils and les fils are spelled and pronounced identically, with only the article (le vs les) telling you the number. Hindi has a small parallel — a masculine noun ending in a consonant, like घर ('house'), also stays घर in the plural direct case — but Hindi usually still marks plurality elsewhere, in verb agreement or the oblique case. French offers no such backup for these nouns, so the article becomes doubly important as your main plural signal in speech.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
| French | Pronunciation | Hindi | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| les livres | lay leev-ruh | किताबेंkitābeñ | books |
| les tables | lay TAH-bluh | मेज़ेंmezeñ | tables |
| les bateaux | lay bah-TOH | नावेंnāveñ | boats |
| les jeux | lay zhuh | खेलkhel | games |
| les chevaux | lay shuh-VOH | घोड़ेghoṛe | horses |
| les journaux | lay zhoor-NOH | अख़बारakhbār | newspapers |
| les bals | lay bahl | नाचnāc | dances/balls |
| les fils | lay fees | बेटेbeṭe | sons |
| les souris | lay soo-REE | चूहेcūhe | mice |
| les nez | lay nay | नाकेंnākeñ | noses |