French Grammar: How to Say "Plus"
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Plus or plu(s)? This is such a very classic pronunciation question. People make so many common mistakes using this four-letter word where saying the S can change what it means.
Here are my tips. Just for you !
Let's dive in!
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ABOUT GÉRALDINE
Hi! I’m Géraldine Lepère, the founder of Comme une Française (= “Like a French woman”) and your new French best friend. :)
Each Tuesday, I share a fun, fresh and bite-sized lesson on French language and French culture-from embarrassing mistakes to avoid to pop-cultural references to “get” !
For over five years now, with millions of views and students in over 56 countries, I’ve been helping people just like you gain the confidence to really talk in French. And better than the “textbook” French from high school!
My tip:
1) In affirmative sentences:
a. If "plus" modifies an adjective or an adverb, it is pronounced /ply/ or /plyZ/ (if followed by a vowel);
b. If "plus" modifies a verb or a noun, it is pronounced /plyS/;
2) When "plus" means "not anymore", it is pronounced /ply/.
Lívia Guedes h
You’re right
That's it! Thanks!
Thanks very much.
When the concept is "less"... plus will have less sound, so the s is not pronounced.
When the concept is "more"... plus will have more sound, so the s is pronounced.
👍
I enjoyed that little "tester" at the end. Thank you.
Here's my hints:
-
When "plus" means "more" you pronounce the "s" (even if sometimes you don't but hey if you're not a native french speaker it's forgivable) and you will naturally by practising the language know when you spell it or not...
ex: un plus deux (one plus two)
je veux plus (I want more)
-
In every cases, if the following word starts with a vowel, the "s" sounds "z"
ex: plus avancé (more advanced)
plus utile (more useful)
-
And when "plus" means "no more, no longer not anymore" don't overthink... the "s" sound is often mute and you will figure out by yourself the cases when it's not...
ex: je ne veux plus (I don't want anymore)
je ne peux plus le faire (I no longer can do it)
je n'en peux plus ( I no more can)
-
In my opinion French is one of these languages you listen carefully before you try to read it because its logic obeys difficult rules and exceptions even native speakers are often confused with and even me trying to help you and confident with all these rules, I may make some grammar mistakes sometimes
-
so plus = more: you generally spell the "s"
plus = no more: you generally don't
plus before a vowel, the sound is "z"
-
extra tip: (there is also something happening when the following word starts with an "h" but this letter deserves a video on its own... no wonder why "hell" starts with it)
my u know alot
@@kenkyuungcho7990 haha you too can explain your own language so... No I don't
This isn't true.
(1) Name one instance where plus is negative but isn't pronounced plu?
(2) It's not correct to say when plus it positive, it's *generally* pronounced plus - sometimes it's pronounce plu, sometimes plu/pluz and sometimes plus.
@@ash_17406 do you know the difference between generally and everytime ?
Thank you for kindly taking the time to share these tips, salute!
Best teacher in the planet.
Merci! These older videos are all new to me ❤️
J'ai toujours des difficultés avec "plus" et "plus". Tes explications sont claires et utiles. Merci Geraldine!
Sarai Juarez Ravie que ça t'aide, Sarai !
Yay! This is the thing I had been confused for quite a while about and could not explain to my teacher what it was I needed explained. Thank you so, so much! :)
This video reminds me of the times when one either pronounces the final S in ananas, Dumas, jus, pas, invers and other words ending in S both in the plural and also in the singular versions. I believe many francophones dispute, whether one should pronounce the final S or not. In Quebec, we don't pronounce the final S in jus, pas (step/pace), ananas and the surname Dumas, invers or in the name of Anvers in Belgium. However, we hear debates by French citizens who pronounce these final Ss. Of course, in Anvers, the Belgians pronounce the S, so it would be incorrect to pronounce the city's name without the S sound at the end.
Hi Geraldine. Je suis brésilienne et j'aime ton vidéos. Je suis un étudiant de français. Merci !
Moi aussi. Tudo bem?
"Live in France, feel at home." Love it ! Excellent tag line ^_^
J’adore votre façon de expliquer tous en ce qui concerne la langue française. Merci beaucoup Géraldine ! Je vous embrasse.
Je viens de trouver vos vidéos, et vous me paraissez une enseignante très instruite et sympa. Merci beacoup pour les tips. Salut de Chicago !
J'ai aimé la preuve à la fin mais en général je crois qu'il faut écouter plus et parler plus et alors tu vas commettre de moins en moins fautes.
It’s amazing. But I found this link yesterday. I love to watch these lesions.
My take:
When plus is negative, it's always pronounced plu.
When plus is positive, it depends:
- if it modifies an adjective or as a superlative, it's plu/pluz
- if it modifies a verb, it's plus
- after that, it's mostly plus (eg. plus que) but sometimes not (eg. plus ça change).
This was great Géraldine! Can you make one about when you pronounce the S in tous?
Soulement pour la laison
Its almost always unpronounced, except when its referring to all as as a substitute for everyone. Ils sont tous mauvais, bienvenu a tous, etc. In any other instance, its not. So "ils sont tous cool" would have it pronounced, because you are just saying "everyone" to clarify who "ils" is referring to. But, "tous les hommes" would have it not pronounced because because its descrbing a quantity, not subbing in for the all as in everyone.
@@remplidefeux Thanks man, much appreciated.
Hi Geraldine, would you please explain in a video the frequently used term nowadays (du coup) when/ meaning .Merci
muchas gracias
Here from your recent upload, and you consistently address everything I get confused by! Merci mille fois!
I've always pronounced the 's' when I've needed to show that there was no omitted 'ne'. It requires thinking ahead but I never had any problems with it, even though when you think about it, it seems like it should be a minefield. Then, apart from that, there are the questions of elision and so on, that you mentioned, but the biggest concern is distinguishing between the exact opposites that are 'ne...plus' and 'plus' ; which are, respectively, negative and positive expressions of quantity or frequency. That's a big difference! Apart from that, when 'plus' is used as an adverb that modifies an adjective it is not likely to be confused with negative '(ne)...plus', so it isn't necessary to pronounce the 's' for expressive reasons, only for reasons of elision in the case of the adjective beginning with a vowel. Having said all that, I would never have been able to explain any of it, even to myself, without having seen your video :-). It was something I learnt little by little from speaking French every day.
"Je t'aime moi non plus" is a well known song in the UK. I can only translate it as "I love you, me neither". Or maybe it's "I love you at least as much as myself", but in that case the s would be sounded, which it isn't. I asked a french woman who said she had no idea what it meant - Gainsbourg was a suŕealist!
thank you so much for making these vids. So so helpful
Merci pour cette leçon, cette très difficile ! Je regarderais encore :)
merci beaucoup. bonjour de la Grece
"Launch more nuclear ICBMs!" said the commander.
Or was it "Don't launch more nuclear ICBMs!"? Eenie, meenie, miney, moe?
I asked a French-native speaker friend who also speaks English fluently, and he said when it's written, there is literally no way to know what "plus" means, so you have to guess.
Here's an example from the song "Avant qu'elle parte" by Sexion d'assaute... there's a line that says:
"Si j'ai plus d'encre tant pis,
je continuerai avec mes larmes"
Put the first part into Google translate and the result is: "If I have more ink, too bad."
But if you put the whole thing into Google translate, somehow the meaning flips and you get:
"If I run out of ink, too bad I'll carry on with my tears"
So it seems like Google's actually doing some pretty good guesswork, and it's often right about the intended meaning when given enough context.
Merci Geraldine (?), j`aime les petites tests. I've enjoyed a lot of your videos already. After a couple of years in France I'm still starting out but slowly getting to grips with the work. j`apprecie tes aides-- !
Merci beaucoup pour cette vidéo ! I finally understand this bizarre situation 😅
I'm watching this 6 years after it was published, but surprised that the shift in pronunciation of the S in "de plus en plus" was not mentioned. 🙂
Also, in the phrase "ils vivent plus à la maison," Géraldine says /ply/; am I the only one who would tend to put a liason on the S and say /plyz/ ?
Merci beaucoup, Geraldine! J'adore votre cours; vous êtes braiment un professeur merveilleux! Je suis gene de dire que je ne vois pas le lien sur Le Point de FLE pour plus d'explications sur "Plus". OK - I used my phone translation for that! ??? :) Merci!
Very helpful, thanks 🙏🏾
Merci beaucoup, tres utilisant!!!
merci beaucoup Jeraline, t'es très très gentil. J'aime votre vidéos.
What about when you want to say:
En plus, .... To introduce and extra idea?
Love your videos!!
Merci beaucoup, c'était très intéressant et utile!
Merci beaucoup!
Blessings Géraldine, I needed this.
Merci beaucoup, one question: in the subtitles shoudn't it be: "Il a plu toutE la nuit"?
If i'm not mistaken, the 's' is pronounced in the case of 'verb' and 'adjectif' comparison so people don't confuse them with negation 'ne....plus' (in writing or in spoken, i mean with 'ne' pronounced or not). Like in the examples given in the video.
Merci Géraldine pour les vidéos... Je les ai bien aimées et j'ai découvert beaucoup de choses. Bonjour de Jakarta, Indonésie ;)
I mean in the 'verb' and 'noun' comparison, but not with the 'adjectif' comparison.
Une bonne vidéo! Mille mercis comme toujours pour des vidéos comme celle-ci
Merci beaucoup pour ces cours magnifique
Very good videos. Merci tres bien.
Merci beaucoup! I always find myself wondering whether I should say it with or without the 's'. ^-^
Very handy, merci bien!
Thank you, Merci, gracias!! This cleared up a lot of things.
No one says "trousers" in Canada anymore. We say "pants," which aligns better with "pantalons."
Merci beaucoup !
Thank you so much for this video, this is exactly what I needed!
I love idioms, one can mistake one in French for an English expression that sounds similar, and vise versa. For example: 'Il a les yeux plus gros que le ventre' translates to 'His eyes are too big for his stomach' (a rare word-for-word translation that is also an English idiom). This means that he put too much on his plate, and cannot eat it all. As opposed to 'He bit off more than he can chew', which means He started some task that he cannot manage, (over estimating his abilities). I don't know the corresponding idiom in French.
Merci bien. It was very helpful
Très utile, merci! ^_^
I also think when plus could mean no longer OR more, then we have to say Plussss when we mean MORE even if it's followed by a consonant.
Merci, J'aime beaucoup votre vidéos.
Hi, Geraldine! Your vlog has helped me tons! It's really helpful! I remember the negative "plus" from the lyrics of a Serge Gainsbourg song - Je t'aime... moi non plus :)
good lesson....I have never heard an explanation of this. still confused a bit.
My system has always been:
Never with s with if it means “no longer” not anymore, no more”
Only s of it means more if there could be some confusion which one you mean.
J’ai plus de temps maintenant que je suis en retraite.
If I mean “I have no more time now that I’ve retired” no s
If I mean “I have more time now that I’ve retired” I pronounce the s.
In situations where if you understand the sentence, only one of these make sense, then there’s no need for the s.
Les yeux plus gros que le ventre.
This only makes sense as
“Eyes bigger than the stomach”
So therefore there’s no need to pronounce the s.
So that why I always thought for things like
J’ai plus de
Or j’aime plus le
It makes the sentence fully clear which “plus” you mean, so that’s why it’s there.
Hi Geraldine. Super cette chaine! I don't wish to complicate for the average student but just to take an example. 'Elle a plus de chance qu'elle ne le merite'.(She has more opportunity than she deserves). The 's' in plus can be either silent, 's' or by process of assimilation with the following d become 'z'. Can somebody correct me if I am wrong?
I think ,in many cases plu(s) goes with a negative subject and pluS with a positive.
Salut,
Can u plz make videos on
"looks+Adjective"
"Look like"
and
"Seems like?"
I so needed this! This question has been bothering me forever.
On a side note, shouldn't it be "il a plu toutE la nuit"?
zephyr84 We say "tout' " la nuit :)
+Comme une Française je crois que c'est bien "toute" la nuit, comme tu l'as prononcé dans la vidéo
il me faut 'plus' d'apprentissage
thnx a lot
Il n'y a pas de liaison dans le dernier exemple? (Ils vivent plus a la maison)
no, i believe there's never liaison when using plus to mean "anymore"
Non ! On le prononce pas
Salut! I've put together a more detailed list. But I'm not sure if this is correct?
NO S (negative):
- Not - Ne...plu(s)
- Not do - Ne verb plus
- Niether - Non plu(s)
- Just/only - Ne xxx plus qu(e) - just/only
- No more than - Ne ... pas plu(s) de
NO S (comparative)
- More adj than - Plu(s) adj. que
- The most - Le plu(s) adj.
NO S (more adverb)
- Plu(s) adverb
PLUS - w/ S
- More of - Plus de noun
- More of than - Plus de noun que
- Do more - verb plus
- Do more than - verb plus que
- Addition - 6 plus 7
- Comparative ending - xxx(eg. verb) le plus.
@Commeunefrancais
Are there more words like "plus" which changes the meaning with different pronunciation ??? Pleasseee let us know of this phenomenon. Merci !!
thanks that was very careful
That's totally not confusing at all
d'accord donc "de plus en plus.." ça se prononce par la liaison oui? Avec le son comme Z en anglais ? Merci
Ouais, avec la liaison !
Can someone please explain why one letter does not represent one sound in French?
Est ce que tu peux expliquer quand on peut substituer "plus" avec "davantage"?
en été on est plus dans le jardin alors qu'en hiver, on est plus dans le jardin^^ (oui, je sais, il manque le "n'" de la négation)
The "S"is pronounced in some names. Is there a rule to follow?
1:46 This sums up a lot of French... Sorry! MDR. But it is what makes it fun :-)
And "à plus"? Is with s, right?
Oui, tout à fait !
Vous etes magnifique! A+
I still struggle with this one
So so cute. Love u videos.
Je n’ai « plus » d’argent après le passage des impôts , sure without ´s’ 🤣
Cette phrase, est-elle correcte? "Néanmoins et sans aucun complexe on est plus nul que Brel ne l'était..."
Il a plut tout la nuit or il a plut toute la nuit?
j'ai pas trucs, instead,it's about listening,and then knowing what sounds right
Un professeur m'a dit que les conventions de cet S ont changé, et que c'est de moins en moins prononcé. Quand je pense à cette phrase, "je ne t'aime plus" (pas trop gentil à dire), j'entends le S... est-ce que c'est toujours faux? Et quelqu'un connaît si c'est vrai que, il y a deux ou trois générations, c'était différent?
Non, je ne prononce pas le s dans la phrase, "Je ne t'aime plus." Je crois aussi que la prononciation du s dépend de la région de France.
D'accord, merci.
De rien!
Plus de ça
tricks: anymore = no S pronounce at plus. and more = add S at the pronounce. it likes: anymore = NO "S" Plus (-) S = Plu and more = more "S" plu + S = Plus. sorry! O am not native English speaker.
Il a les yeux plus gros que le ventre means “his eyes are bigger than his stomach” (exactly the same as the English expression), careful for the non-literal translation in the video!
J'ai comfiture cherry "Bonne Mama" au mon fridge.
I learned when plus means more, you say the s.
Il n y a pas quelqu'un ici à faire étudie avec.
From Ouest-France 6 Juin 2019, about D-Day:
"Il y a 75 ans, jour pour jour, plus de 150 000 soldats et parachutistes des Alliés débarquaient sur les plages normandes pour libérer la France et le continent européen de l’occupation nazie. Plus de 10 000 y ont laissé leur vie."
I listened to the audio commentary: in plus de 150 000 the s is silent, in the second Plus de 10 000 it is pronounced. Why? They have the same grammatical function. Is it because the first one is inside the sentence but the second one is at the beginning?
"Don't worry" isn't helpful. pas "plus en la maison" would normaly be linked mais isn't.
I couldn't watch this video because of the annoying music in the background. PLEASE turn the music off.
That was the easiest fart. Let's breathe.
I am so sorry, but holy shit that wink at the end was hot, Geraldine! I did not get the spoken French version when trying, but it seems like plus in the negation ("ne ... plus") isn't pronounced.
Sank yous veery mooch...... I 'as alot of trooouble wiz ma Eengleesh and Froggie Franche. An' tambien avec l'Allemande, zee salle Bochie language wot uttered by zee Norzern 'uns an' Veeseegothies, I shpeeting now...... je crache......
Per'aps you could 'elp uz an' mek programs wiz zee same format 'ow to schprek die deutschen vernachularium oder peut-étre SOVIETSKI no vowel lingua franca des Politbüro apparatchiki livin eet up à Moscow.....
Zo, bottomzes oop an' me lervin' ze lockydown 'airdoo an' classeec 1960s leepsteeck an' C an' A dress....
Beeg smackee wet keeses but no tongueees.
very soon speak i like your side youre are very pretty
merci t'es très mignonne
Merci beaucoup, Geraldine! J'adore votre cours; vous êtes braiment un professeur merveilleux! Je suis gene de dire que je ne vois pas le lien sur Le Point de FLE pour plus d'explications sur "Plus". OK - I used my phone translation for that! ??? :) Merci!
Very good videos. Merci tres bien.