Nouns Ending in -eau, -au: Plural -x

This rule is all about the ending of the singular noun. You look at the last three or two letters. If you see -eau or -au, your brain should trigger a "Plural X" alert. The process is purely additive. You do not remove any letters from the original word. You simply place an -x at the very end. This rule applies to the vast majority of words with these endings. It is one of the most consistent "irregular" rules in French. It helps to remember that French historically used -x as a shorthand for -s in certain scripts. Over time, the shorthand became the official rule for these specific vowel clusters. It is like a fossil of ancient handwriting!

1. 1Follow these simple steps to transform your nouns:
2. 2Identify the singular noun (e.g., un gâteau).
3. 3Check if it ends in -eau or -au.
4. 4Keep the entire singular word exactly as it is.
5. 5Add the letter -x to the end (e.g., des gâteaux).
6. 6Change the article from un, une, or le, la to des or les.
7. 7That is it! You have successfully pluralized the word. No complicated math or vowel shifts required.

You will use this rule in almost every daily conversation. Imagine you are at a French bakery (a boulangerie). You do not want just one cake; you want three. You would ask for trois gâteaux. If you are walking in a park and see several birds, you are looking at des oiseaux. If you are describing your office setup with multiple desks, you are talking about des bureaux.

Real-world scenarios include:

• Ordering Food: "Je voudrais quatre gâteaux au chocolat, s'il vous plaît."
• Home Decor: "J'aime beaucoup ces nouveaux rideaux (curtains)."
• Nature Walks: "Regarde les oiseaux sur l'eau !"
• Job Interviews: "J'ai géré plusieurs bureaux dans mon dernier poste."

Every rule has a few rebels. For nouns ending in -au, there are a couple of rare exceptions. The most common one you might encounter is un landau (a baby stroller). To make it plural, you actually add a standard -s: des landaus. Another rare one is un sarrau (a smock or lab coat), which becomes des sarraus.

Also, do not apply this to words ending in just -u or -ou (unless they follow their own -x rules like bijou). This specific rule is strictly for the -eau and -au combinations. If the word ends in -al, like journal, it changes to -aux, which is a different transformation entirely. Don't mix them up! Think of it like a grammar traffic light; only go for the -x if you see the full -eau or -au signal.

The biggest mistake is the "S-Trap." Because -s is the general rule, your hand might automatically write gâteaus. It looks okay to an English speaker, but it will make a French person's eye twitch.

Another mistake is trying to pronounce the -x. In French, the final -x is usually silent. Un bateau and des bateaux sound exactly the same. Do not make a "ks" sound at the end.

Lastly, some people forget to change the article. Le gâteaux is incorrect because the article and the noun must match. It must be les gâteaux. Yes, even native speakers mess this up when they are tired, but you can be better!

It is helpful to compare this to other plural types.

• Standard: un chat → des chats (Add -s).
• The -eau/-au Rule: un manteau → des manteaux (Add -x).
• The -al Shift: un animal → des animaux (Drop -al, add -aux).

Notice the difference? In our -eau rule, we keep the original word intact. In the -al rule, we actually chop off the end of the word. Our rule is much kinder to the original spelling!