More or no more? – How to Use Plus in French

Plus de pain ? Plus de fromage ? Plus de gateau ?…” We have witnessed on several occasions our foreign guests get a little confused when, invited to a dinner by a French family, they are asked such questions.  “More bread or no more bread?  More cheese or no more cheese?  More cake or no more cake?…  What was the question, exactly?”

    Very few short French words are as confusing as plus, because it can be either a superlative adjective or an adverb and which, indeed, can mean either “more” or “no more”, depending on the context, its position in a sentence, and  the way it is pronounced.  Let’s see, through some examples, how plus is pronounced in each case, because the pronunciation of the word makes all the difference. 

1^st Part: Cases when plus is pronounced “pluS“

When plus is an adverb meaning “more“, very often used in a comparison, it is always pronounced “pluS“.  Here is how it is used:

1) Before a noun:

Examples:
– J’ai plus de chance que toi au loto = I have more luck than you in the lotto.

– Il a plus d’amis que quand il ne travaillait pas. = He has more friends than when he didn’t work.

– Louis a plus de plaisir à parler français qu’espagnol. = Louis has more pleasure speaking French than Spanish.

2) After a verb and directly followed by the pronoun que

Examples:
– Mon fils mange plus que ma fille. = My son eats more than my daughter.

– La fourmi travaille plus que la cigale. = The ant works more than the cicada.

– Le tennis nous plaît plus que le foot. = We like tennis more than soccer.

3) When it is accompanied by en – en plus – (meaning “more“, “moreover“, etc.):

Examples:
– J’ai des heures en plus à faire. = I have overtime work to do.

– Je n’ai pas le temps de déjeuner ; en plus, je dois partir plus tôt. = I don’t have time for lunch; moreover, I have to leave early.

– Je suis fatigué, et en plus, j’ai faim. = I am tired, and moreover, I am hungry.

2^nd Part: Cases when plus is pronounced differently

I. When plus is a superlative adjective meaning “more“

Plus is also very often used in a comparison as a superlative adjective, but its pronunciation depends on the word that follows in the sentence:

1) Before an adjective that starts with a consonant:  it should be pronounced “plu“:

Examples:
– Marie est plus gentille que sa sœur. = Marie is kinder than her sister.

– Le dimanche paraît toujours plus court que les autres jours. = Sunday always seems shorter than the other days.

– Le jardin est plus beau au printemps qu’en hiver. = The garden is more beautiful in spring than in winter.

– La période la plus dure de ma vie a été mon service militaire. = The worst time of my life was my military service.

– Tu es la plus généreuse de la famille. = You are the most generous of the family.

Before an adjective that starts with a vowel or with a silent h:  it should be pronounced “pluz“:

Examples:
– Le nouveau présentateur de l’émission de télé est plus élégant que l’ancien. = The new presenter of the TV show is more elegant than the previous one.

– Lucie est toujours plus inquiète que son mari. = Lucie is always more worried than her husband.

– Ma fille est plus heureuse à la maison qu’à l’école. = My daughter is happier at home than at school.

– Le roman que j’ai le plus aimé était Don Quichotte. = The novel I liked the most was Don Quixote. 

– La scène la plus humoristique du film m’a fait beaucoup rire. = The funniest scene in the movie made me laugh a lot.

2) Before an adverb: it should also be pronounced either:

– “plu“, when the adverb starts with a consonant:

Examples:
– Sa fille vient plus souvent la voir que son fils. = Her daughter visits her more frequently than her son.

– A Paris, on se déplace plus lentement en bus qu’en métro. = In Paris, we move more slowly in a bus than in the subway.

– Le professeur parle plus doucement à un étudiant étranger  qu’à un Français. = The teacher speaks more slowly to a foreign student than to a French person.

– or “pluz“, when the  adverb starts with a vowel or with a silent h:

Examples:
– Le vendeur se comporte plus aimablement quand les clients sont sympa que quand ils sont agressifs. = The salesman acts in a more kindly way when the clients are nice than when they are aggressive.

– Juliette parle plus ouvertement avec ses copines qu’avec sa famille. = Juliette speaks more openly with her friends than with her family.

– Il agit plus honnêtement que quand il a créé sa société. = He acts more honestly than when he started his company.

II. When plus… plus is an adverb meaning “the more… the more“:

1) When the word following plus starts with a consonant, it is pronounced “plu“:

Examples:
– Plus nous voyageons, plus nous avons envie de voyager. = The more we travel, the more we feel like traveling.

– Plus la tempête est forte, plus les vagues sont hautes. = The stronger the storm, the higher the waves.

– Plus le vin est bon, plus nous en buvons. = The better the wine, the more of it we drink. 

2) When the word following plus starts with a vowel or with a silent h, it is usually pronounced “pluz“, but “plu” is also acceptable:

Examples:
– Plus il connaît sa femme, plus il l’aime. = The more he gets to know his wife, the more he loves her.

– Plus elle prend de l’âge, plus elle est relax. = The older she becomes, the more relaxed she is.

– Plus on est de fous, plus on rit. = The more the merrier.

III. When  plus is an adverb meaning “no more“, “not anymore“

1) When the next word (noun, adjective, verb, adverb…) starts with a consonant, it is pronounced “plu“:

Examples:
– Les ouvriers ne veulent plus travailler le soir. = The workers don’t want to work in the evening anymore.

– Nous n’allons plus jamais au cinéma. = We don’t go to the movies anymore.

– Tu ne veux plus de chien ? = You don’t want anymore dogs?

2) When the next word (noun, adjective, verb, adverb…) starts with a vowel or a silent h, it is usually pronounced “pluz“, but “plu” is also acceptable:

Examples:
– Il n’a plus assez de temps pour lui. = He no longer has enough time for himself anymore.

– Elle n’est plus intéressée par ce travail.  = She is no longer interested by this work.

– Ce village n’est plus habité. = This village is no longer inhabited.

Note that this article is devoted to clearly point out the differences in pronunciation of the different ways to use plus when we want to say “more” or “no more”.  However, there are many other uses of plus, for example in additions: un plus un égale deux = one plus one equals two…,  or when there are other elements to add: Le prix est 100 euros plus les taxes = The cost is 100 Euro plus tax.

Plus can also be a noun, such as in: Ce nouveau travail est un plus pour ton CV = This new job is a bonus for your resume.  And there are many usual and familiar ways to use plus that you can hear when French people talk to each other, such as:

– au plus = at most,

– plus ou moins = more or less,

– rien de plus = nothing more to say/nothing new,

– d’autant plus = all the more reason,

– un peu plus = a little more, it won’t need much more,

– moi non plus (toi/lui/elle/nous/vous/ils/elles non plus) = me neither (you/him/her/we/you/them neither),

– ni plus ni moins = no more no less, almost to tally,

– sans plus = so so.

Annick Stevenson