Pluriel

Pluriel is the grammatical category that marks more than one reference in nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and related words. In linguistics, it is studied alongside singular and other number forms (if present) to indicate plurality. Plural marking can be expressed morphologically, syntactically, or lexically, and some languages feature more than two numeric categories such as dual or paucal.

Etymology and scope: The term pluriel comes from Latin pluralis through the French word pluriel. It is used to describe how a language marks a quantity greater than one, including how determiner and adjective agreement interact with a noun in the plural.

French specifics: In French, le pluriel is the form used for more than one item. Most nouns form the plural by adding -s to the singular, and adjectives and determiners agree in number with the noun. Examples: un livre, des livres; un cheval, des chevaux. French also has irregular plurals and special patterns, such as œil → yeux and bureau → bureaux, as well as nouns that change more substantially or remain invariant. Some nouns are pluralia tantum, existing only in the plural form (for example, les lunettes, les vacances). In addition, article and adjective forms shift from le/la to les, and from un/une to des in the plural.

Typology and cross-linguistic notes: Plural formation varies widely across languages. Some use suffixes, others alter the root, and some rely on separate words or noun class systems. While English commonly uses -s or -es, other languages exhibit extensive irregularities or multiple plural patterns. Some languages even have fewer or more numerical distinctions beyond singular and plural.

See also: grammatical number, number agreement, pluralia tantum.