Poll: What's the plural of 'grand prix'?
What's the plural of 'grand prix'?
Poll Stats
This Poll:
- Votes: 7,961
- Comments: 32
- Added: July 2004
Comments:
Grand Prix is French, and it means Large Prize. The plural of Prix in french is the same - Prix, but the adjective Grand has to agree with it, and the plural of Grand is Grands, hence the plural of Grand Prix is Grands Prix. It doesn't depend on how many votes it gets.
Who cares what the French plural is? Once it has become a loan word, it can behave differently- no one complains that 'spaghetti' is singular in English.
Jacques Villeneuve and PBT both have valid points. However most English teachers tend to teach it as "Grands Prix". In speech though, I would suggest it's far more common to say "Grand Prixs" (pron: "grand preeze")
If you ask for the plural in English (not in French) it should be 'Grand prizes'. In French it's another fish meal.
I work in motor sport and have asked many colleagues who invariably agree that the plural of Grand Prix is Grand Prix. I think we should go with the view of the majority of motor sport experts, not English/Franch language boffins!
Please be aware that any specifically named event or race, such as Long Beach Grand Prix, should use events or races as the plural, e.g. I have attended all of the Long Beach Grand Prix events.
David's answer looks the easiest to interpret and, as a magazine editor, I am going to use exactly that right now. Thanks Dave!
Grands Prix is not only wrong, its stupid. as has been previously stated Grand Prix translates as Large Prize. keeping it in the english, using the Grands Prix plural would make the translation Larges Prize... Which is obviously stupid.. And irrespective of whether its a loan word or not the translation is still its literal meaning, so its that literal meaning that has to make sense for the plural to be viable. There for, the only logical plural would be Grand Prix, as has also been previously stated, Prix is the plural of Prix. Grand Prixs (or prixes I suppose) are a close second if the Anglophone plural system insists on being employed.
I would add that what David says is definitely the most concise way of stating it.
Grand Prix (plural Grands Prix)
Source: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Grand_
Prix
repected sir, would you please give more explations about it
If we accept it's a French title for each F1 race, the only way to pronounce it is "gron prie" (silent 'n') whether it's singular or plural. If we anglicise it, it's still just"Grand Prix" whether 1 or many. Anyone calling it GranS Prix just has no style...
It's good
the only rational, sensible and linguistic options are Grand Prix or Grand Prixs and the former is preferable,
Being Australian Grands Prix (which is the correct plural in French) just doesn't look or sound right but if you use Grand Prix for singular and plural it doesn't give an immediate idea which it is. I'd prefer Grand Prixs or Grand Prixes.
it is spelt, grands prix, but the s is silent. so you say it the same as grand prix.
The use of Grands Prix seems to follow the rule of Courts Martial. However in Courts Martial it is the noun, not the adjective, that is pluralised by adding an "s". In Grand Prix, the adjective should not be pluralised and since the plural of prix is the same word, like sheep, then the true answer Grand Prix. Grammar, like science and maths is not done by consensus, so I agree it doesn't depend on how many votes but the rules of language. If the adjective is pluralised we would have blues sky instead of blue skies.
Grand Prix races would be the plural . e.g he won 4 Grand Prix races this year.
Neat Bob... avoids the situation altogether. I do know that s following x isnt normal
If the singular in French is "grand prize", then what form of "prix" (prize) is plural in French (prizes)?
Boostitem: You're the stupid one! Grammar and diction are essential to understanding another person. It's the difference between "helping your Uncle Jack off the horse" and "helping your uncle jack off the horse: Regardless of how people within motorsport state it, the correct way is Grands Prix. Simple.
Grand is an adjective. Adjectives have no plural e.g. a red house cannot become two reds houses.
If a bunch of guys are lined up two at a time to race when the stop light turns green, are they called stop light grand prix's because there is more than one race?
@Jacques Villeneuve. Sorry, my friend, but in Italian, "Spaghetti" IS the plural term. "Spaghetto" is the singular - although nobody uses it, of course, because no-one ever eats just one strand of the pasta.
I had a teacher at school who used to say "these spaghetti are good". He was not a good teacher of French, his day job.
In French the plural form of 'grand prix' is 'grands prix'. In English both 'grand prix' and 'grands prix' are accepted plural forms of the word 'grand prix'. The plural of 'prix' is not 'prixes', the reason being that this goes against the grammar of the original language.
The plural of English words ending in x is typically -xes for example six - sixes or suffix -suffixes. Now the plural of English terms such as mother in law is not mother in laws but mothers in law, or plural of spoonful is not spoons full unless you use six spoons to measure six spoonfuls. Grand Prix is not an English word so I would not say Grand Pixes but would stick with Grand Prix which translated would be Large Prize in singular or Large Prizes in plural as per the contest in which it is used. I would definitely not make the adjective 'Large' plural and say Grands Prix - Larges Prize - it just does not work.
In the light of these opinions, what is the plural of cul de sac?
I accept that the plural of Grand Prix is Grands Prix when talking about motor racing. But what about the car? I'm sure there isn't a car dealer alive who ever pluralized Pontiac Grand Prix and Pontiac Grands Prix.
I absolutely LOVE coming across internet discussions that make me want to flip tables in anger. It's Grands Prix or Grand Prix events, anyone who says otherwise is stupid or selling something.
sawyer
It's a plural noun like sugar or water. Grand prix.