ées

ées is a common feminine plural ending in French, written as -ées. It is not a standalone word but an inflection used on adjectives and past participles to agree with feminine plural nouns. The ending signals that the modified word refers to more than one female subject or object.

Formation and examples: The feminine singular ending is -ée; to form the feminine plural, add -s to produce -ées. This ending appears on words such as parlée → parlées (as in des phrases parlées, “spoken sentences”), aimée → aimées (as in des chansons aimées, “loved songs”), and célèbre → célèbrées (as in des fêtes célèbrées, “celebrated festivals”). It also appears in participles used adjectivally, yielding feminine plural forms like réalisées, intéressées, ouées, selon the stem.

Usage and agreement: -ées marks feminine plural agreement in two primary contexts. As adjectives, it describes multiple feminine nouns, for example, des idées intéressées (interested ideas) or des œuvres célèbrées (celebrated works). As past participles, it reflects agreement with gender and number when formed with the auxiliary être (par exemple, Elle est allée; Elles sont allées) and, when the object precedes the verb with avoir, with the preceding direct object (Les chansons que j’ai aimées). Such agreement is central to correct French concord.

Pronunciation and orthography: In most contexts, -ées is pronounced as a single vowel sound /e/ with the final -s typically silent, as in parlées or aimées. The precise pronunciation can vary with liaison and regional speech, but the spelling -ées consistently marks feminine plural.

Overall, -ées is a productive and essential suffix in French, conveying feminine plurality in adjectives and past participles across many verbs and stems.