The pronunciation of "plus" in de plus en plus in the last example (J'ai de plus en plus de mal à me concentrer.) has 's' in both the plus

Question

Is this correct? Because in all other examples only the plus has 's' prononuced as it is followed by vowel 'e'.

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Hi Mohit, 
Not always but in the expression 'de plus en plus' you can say:
De pluz en plu or de pluz en plusse...
The first 's'  is pronounced as a 'z' because of the compulsory liaison and the second 's' can be pronounced or not.
Hope this helps!

Mohit Mittal · Answer

correction -  Because in all other examples only the FIRST plus has 's' prononuced as it is followed by vowel 'e'.

Cécile Janty-Davies · Answer

Hi Mohit,
Thanks for pointing this out, you can actually say both ...

Mohit Mittal · Answer

Thanks Cecile. Just to confirm - this means that "Plus" can always be pronounced with a 's'?

Yoko Aoki · Answer

I wondered exactly the same thing as Mohit did. I think I was taught that this type of "s" SHOULD NOT be pronounced unless there occurs liaison. 
Is this an exception only for this phrase? Or is it more flexible in general...?