All sports enthusiasts use this term, borrowed from English and which has become essential since the end of the 19th century. But how should we make it plural?
There are anglicisms that irritate us, and those to which we no longer even pay attention. For sports fans, there is at least one that is inevitable: the word “match”. If it has a synonym regularly used by sports journalists (“meeting”), this word of English origin is absolutely essential when it comes to sports competitions. However, you probably don’t know how to give this term in the plural: do we write “matches” or “matches”?
The two spellings seem to compete in literature and the written press, with authors and journalists alternating between the version with an “e” and the one without one. Polyglot linguists, attached to the roots and origins of words, prefer to respect English spelling by retaining the “e”, which is pronounced at the end of a word in Shakespeare’s language. Lovers of the French language, who are more conservative, prefer the “French-style” agreement, simply adding an “s” at the end.
On the French website of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), we find the spelling “matches”. Conversely, on the website of the French Football Federation (FFF), it is the writing “matches” which is chosen. Le Larousse advises: “Prefer the Frenchified plural, matches, which is also the most common today”. But, in his dictionary, it says: “matches (French plural) or matches (English plural)”. So, which spelling is the most correct?
Fortunately, since 1990, the French Academy has made a decision. Before this date, it was rather respect for the English agreement which predominated. But in the 1990 Report on spelling corrections, academicians expressly recommend writing the plural in French: “matches”. The document explains: “Singular and plural of borrowed words: nouns or adjectives of foreign origin have a regular singular and plural: a ravioli, ravioli; a scenario, scenarios; a jazzman, jazzmen, etc. We choose as the singular form the most frequent form, even if it is a plural in the other language. These words regularly form their plural with an unpronounced s (examples: matches, lands)”.
The word “match” appeared in French as early as the 16th century. It is originally an English term used in equestrian sports. It is derived from the root “gemæcca”, which means “mate, companion” in Old English of West Germanic origin. Its primary meaning is “the action of equaling, comparing, weighing, competition”.