Forming the plural of adjectives ending in -al (exceptions) : French language lesson

Most adjectives ending in -al change to -aux (masculine plural) or -ales (feminine plural) - see Forming the plural of adjectives ending in -al - but there are exceptions to that rule.

Look at these cases:

Ces tabourets sont bancals.
These stools are wobbly.

Ce sont des gens banals.
These are ordinary people.

J'adore les défilés navals!
I love naval parades!

The following adjectives are exceptions which take -s in the masculine plural form:

Masculine singular	Masculine plural	English
banal	banals	banal / ordinary
bancal	bancals	wobbly / rickety
fatal	fatals	fatal / lethal
naval	navals	naval
natal	natals	natal
glacial	glacials / glaciaux	freezing
final	finals / finaux	final

ATTENTION:

Both plural forms of glacial and final are accepted in French: regular (glaciaux / finaux) and irregular (glacials / finals)

Il y a des vents glacials aujourd'hui!
There are some freezing winds today!

Les derniers jours ont été glaciaux !
The last days have been freezing !

J'ai reçu mes résultats finaux.
I got my final results.

J'ai reçu mes résultats finals.
I got my final results.

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Examples and resources

J'ai reçu mes résultats finals.
I got my final results.

Ce sont des gens banals.
These are ordinary people.

J'ai reçu mes résultats finaux.
I got my final results.

Il y a des vents glacials aujourd'hui!
There are some freezing winds today!

Ces serpents sont particulièrement fatals.
These snakes are particularly deadly.

J'adore les défilés navals!
I love naval parades!

Les derniers jours ont été glaciaux !
The last days have been freezing !

Ces tabourets sont bancals.
These stools are wobbly.

Q&A

Cécile

Kwiziq language super star

25 July 2018

25/07/18

HI Dragana,

Indeed, these examples are all feminine and plural forms of adjectives-

Des pierres précieuses = Precious stones

Des averses glaciales = Icy showers

Des boissons fraîches = Cold drinks

Des chemises chères = Expensive shirts

Des pommes rouges = Red Apples

Hope this helps!

Alan

Kwiziq community member

25 July 2018

25/07/18

I think the point of Dragana's question is that only the masculine plural endings are given in this lesson. The reason, I suppose, is that only the masculine endings are irregular - the feminine endings are just -ales as normal.

Dragana

Kwiziq community member

25 July 2018

25/07/18

Thank you Alan. That is exactly what I was asking. So fatal is fatales in Feminine Plural.

Cécile

Kwiziq language super star

26 July 2018

26/07/18

Yes indeed as in " femmes fatales"...

Chris

Kwiziq community member

2 February 2018

2/02/18

No, the masculine plural form of "banal" is "banals".

.....except in the very rare case when the adjective "banal" us used in its other meaning: feudal (as in the "feudal system"). In that case the plural masculin is "banaux": "les moulins banaux" = the feudal mills where peasants could mill their grain paying a fraction of it to the lord of the land.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

13 June 2016

13/06/16

Bonjour Catherine ! Yes that's correct, both spellings are perfectly acceptable and interchangeable.

Susan

Kwiziq community member

14 May 2017

14/05/17

One of the Kwizbot B1 tests marked "glaciaux" as wrong in a multiple choice question. It would only accept "glacials."

Gary

Kwiziq community member

1 February 2018

1/02/18

Yes because it was teaching the 'ls' exceptions

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

1 February 2018

1/02/18

Bonjour Susan ! I've looked through all our questions, and they all accept glaciaux as a correct alternate answer. Do you have the specific question in mind by any chance? Merci et à bientôt !