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AUDIO QUIZ: How should you pronounce “plus” in each of the phrases below?
(Answers are down below and in the audio. Beware! Number 3 and 6 are tricky.)
1) Il est plus âgé que lui
2) Moi non plus
3) Je l’aime plus
4) Il n’habite plus ici
5) Il est plus petit
6) Je travaille plus
French’s pronunciation and spelling can be challenging at times since many letters are not pronounced. Moreover, the ends of words may have different pronunciations according to what follows after the word, since we have liaisons in French. For example, the “s” of the word “plus” (= more; no longer) is typically tricky, because it is pronounced “s,” “z” or even silent depending on what follows and its meaning.
Let’s have a look at the rules:
▶ plus: when it means “more,” it is pronounced “z” if a vowel follows, and silent if a consonant follows or “s” if it’s placed at the end of a clause. (Sometimes the “z” can be silent, because we don’t necessarily pronounce it every single time for casual conversations.)
▶ (ne) … plus: when it means “no longer,” it is either silent before a vowel or at the end of a clause, or pronounced “z“ if a vowel follows. (In casual conversations, we may sometimes drop the liaison for the latter case and make it silent, too.)
▶ non…plus: when it means “neither”, it is silent.
ANSWERS:
1) “z” (although it may be dropped for casual conversations) (= he’s older than him)
2) silent (= me neither)
3) “s” or silent, depending on the meaning. Normally it should be “s” as it means “more.” However, in conversation, we can omit “ne,” so in that case it can also mean “ne…plus” = “no longer.” In that case, it should be silent. So, this phrase can mean “I like him/her more“ (= “s“) or “I don’t like him/her anymore” (= silent). So take note to avoid mistakes, since it can have the opposite meaning.
4) “z” (although it may be dropped for casual conversations) (= he no longer lives here)
5) silent (= he’s shorter/smaller)
6) Like number 3, “s” or silent, depending on the meaning. “I work more“ (= “s“) or “I no longer work” (= silent).