Plural of Grief

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The Quick Answer
The plural of grief is griefs.

The Plural of Grief

The plural of grief is griefs.
  • I enjoyed a higher degree of satisfaction in pouring my griefs into the bosom of my friend Copperfield. (David Copperfield - Charles Dickens)
  • You may my glories and my state depose,
    But not my griefs; still am I king of those. (Richard II - William Shakespeare)
  • Our trials, our sorrows, and our griefs develop us. Orison Swett Marden)
In modern-day and non-poetic language, the noun grief would be considered a non-countable noun. However, if you have a reason to describe widespread suffering, griefs is an acceptable plural.

The noun grief adheres to the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English (shown in the table below).

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The Standard Rules for Forming the Plurals

The table below shows the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English.
Type Example of Type Forming the Plural Plural
Most Nouns lamp
scythe		 add s lamps
scythes
Noun Ending s, sh, ch, x or z bus
dress		 add es buses
dresses
Nouns ending [consonant] o hero
zero
tomato		 add either s or es
(There are no rules for this - you have to know.)		 heroes
zeros
tomatoes
Nouns ending [vowel] o patio
ratio 		add s patios
ratios
Nouns ending [consonant] y story
penny		 change the y to an i and add es stories
pennies
Nouns ending [vowel] y storey ()
donkey 		add s storeys
donkeys
Nouns ending f or fe life
grief 		ves and/or s
(There are no rules - you have to know.)		 lives
griefs
Exceptions man
louse 		some nouns undergo a vowel or letters change men
lice
More exceptions salmon
sheep 		some nouns do not change at all salmon
sheep

Why Is There Confusion over the Plural of Grief?

There is confusion because the rule for forming plurals with nouns ending in f or fe isn't straightforward. Most nouns will drop the f or fe and gain a ves. For example:
  • Knife becomes knifes.
  • Leaf becomes leaves.
Some just add s. For example:
  • Chief becomes chiefs.
  • Cliff becomes cliffs.
With some words, both versions are accepted. For example:
  • Scarf becomes scarfs or scarves.
  • Dwarf becomes dwarfs or dwarves.
The plural of grief is always griefs. Unfortunately, there is no clever way of knowing which nouns ending f or fe follow which rules. You have to know. (For example, you have to know that thief becomes thieves, but grief becomes griefs.)

Of note, the verb to grieve (which means to feel intense sorrow) becomes grieves in the third person present tense. (For example: She grieves for what has been lost.)
Another Interactive Exercise
Here are three randomly selected questions from another exercise on plurals, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students.

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See Also

Unusual pluralsPlural forming table Quirks with forming plurals Forming the plurals of abbreviations Forming the plurals of compound nouns