Tout, tous, toute, toutes in French: forms and pronunciation

Tout means “all”, “every”, or “whole”, but its form changes with the noun: tout le for masculine singular, toute la for feminine singular, tous les for masculine plural, and toutes les for feminine plural. The pronunciation trap is tous: before a noun it usually sounds like too; when it stands alone as a pronoun, the final s is pronounced.

Before a noun: match gender and number

When tout comes before a noun, treat it like an adjective. It agrees with the noun and usually appears with an article.

J’ai lu tout le message.
I read the whole message.

Elle travaille toute la journée.
She works all day.

For recurring time, the plural pattern is common:

Il court tous les matins.
He runs every morning.

Tous can sound like too or toos

Before a noun, tous usually has a silent final s:

tous les jours
every day

But when tous stands alone as a pronoun meaning “all of them”, the final s is pronounced:

Ils sont tous ici.
They are all here.

That sound difference is small but useful, because it tells you whether tous is attached to a noun or standing on its own.

Tout can also mean completely

Before an adjective or adverb, tout can mean “very” or “completely”:

C’est tout simple.
It’s very simple.

At this level, do not try to memorize every advanced agreement case for that adverbial use. The high-value pattern is still the noun pattern: tout le, toute la, tous les, toutes les.

Common mistakes

Using tout with every plural noun

Plural nouns need plural forms.

tout les jours → tous les jours
every day

Pronouncing tous the same everywhere

Before a noun, the final s is normally silent. As a pronoun, it is pronounced.

Tous les enfants sont là. Ils sont tous là.
All the children are there. They are all there.

Forgetting the article

In many everyday phrases, French says tout + article + noun.

toute semaine → toute la semaine
all week

Tout belongs with other quantity words such as chaque and chacun: the hard part is seeing whether the word modifies a noun or replaces it. Fluera puts these forms in short time and routine sentences, so tous les jours and ils sont tous là separate by use and sound. Try it when you practice French.

Practice