The pronunciation of plus

Question

Apart from when liaison occursas mentioned in this lesson, when is the s pronounced in plus.  Confused.

Ron Thomas · Answer

Bonjour Jennifer,
While Aurélie does an excellent job in providing the pronunciation rule, I have located a couple of other sites that, perhaps, can give you some added insight:
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/plus/ https://frenchmoments.eu/pronunciation-of-french-adverb-plus-when-to-sound-the-s/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvc6KpW7jfw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv7nTsxUy30I, too, have difficulty in remembering exactly when to pronounce the «-s». I hope you find these helpful. J'espère que ma réponse vous aiderait.
Bonne chance et bonne continuation dans vos études en français, la langue de Molière et qui a été utilisé par le monde français depuis l’époque d’Hugues Capet

Chris Wirt · Answer

The grammatical answer is: when "plus" is used as a pronoun meaning "more" you pronounce the final s. When it means "less" or when it is used as part of a negation you don't pronounce the s (unless it is followed by a vowel).

Plus de messages (with silent s) = no more messages
Plus de messages (with s pronounced) = more messages

In this case you can't devine the meaning unless you know the context or you hear it spoken.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Jennifer Cole · Answer

Thank you both for that.  I will be checking out the sites you quoted Ron and Chris your answer reminds me why I find it so difficult to remember when to pronounce and when not.

Donald Hagen · Answer

Quand on dit qu'il n'a pas de lait, on utilise < de > mais quand on dit qu'il n'a plus du lait, on utilise < du lait > ? bien qu'il ait utilisé un négatif. Est-ce je cherche midi à quatorze heures? Est-ce que j'ai raison.