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Childrens, Mouses, Fishes: 18 Real Plural Mistakes

Most English nouns form their plural by adding -s or -es. A small group of very common nouns do not, and those are exactly the ones people get wrong. The examples below are real sentences that people sent to Proofread Bot.

The corrections below are written in formal, academic English.

1. Irregular plurals

✗ I have three childrens.
✓ I have three children.

✗ I have three mouses.
✓ I have three mice.

✗ My tooths fell out when I fell.
✓ My teeth fell out when I fell.

✗ He massaged her foots.
✓ He massaged her feet.

✗ The deers in that field are not very smart.
✓ The deer in that field are not very smart.

✗ I have 20 fishes.
✓ I have 20 fish.

✗ Coats and scarfs.
✓ Coats and scarves.

✗ I have 20 volcanos.
✓ I have 20 volcanoes.

Vowel change: man → men, woman → women, tooth → teeth, foot → feet, mouse → mice
Same in both forms: deer, sheep, fish (usually), series, species
-f to -ves: scarf → scarves, knife → knives, leaf → leaves, half → halves
Already plural: children, people, men, women. Never add an extra -s.

"Fishes" does exist, but only when referring to several different species. "Scarfs" is also accepted in some dictionaries, but "scarves" is far more common. "Volcanos" and "volcanoes" are both correct; "volcanoes" is more common.

2. An apostrophe does not make a plural

✗ There are a lot of dog's here.
✓ There are many dogs here.

✗ Chicken's are cool.
✓ Chickens are cool.

✗ I want my friends' to be more playful.
✓ I want my friends to be more playful.

An apostrophe shows possession ("the dog's bowl") or a contraction ("it's"). A plain plural never takes one. See our guide to apostrophe mistakes.

3. Plurals with "a" or "another"

✗ I have a apples.
✓ I have apples.

✗ I saw a big beds of roses.
✓ I saw a big bed of roses.

✗ I see yet another items having the same problem.
✓ I see yet another item with the same problem.

✗ He gave her a high fives.
✓ He gave her a high five.

A, an, and another mean "one," so they can only be followed by a singular noun.

4. Uncountable nouns have no plural

✗ All the equipments in the factory are new.
✓ All the equipment in the factory is new.

✗ We have received no informations about the accident.
✓ We have received no information about the accident.

Words such as information, equipment, advice, and luggage have no plural form. Our guide to countable and uncountable nouns covers these in detail.

5. Numbers with "hundred," "thousand," "million"

✗ Two hundreds soldiers crossed the bridge.
✓ Two hundred soldiers crossed the bridge.

After a specific number, hundred, thousand, and million stay singular. The plural is used only without a number: "hundreds of soldiers."

Proofread Bot recognizes irregular plurals and flags forms like "childrens" and "mouses" that a basic spell checker may let through.

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