Plural of Baby

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The Plural of Baby

The plural of "baby" is "babies."

• Milk is for babies. When you grow up you have to drink beer. (Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger)
• God looks out for fools and babies. (Singer Meshell Ndegeocello)

The noun "baby" 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 baby	change the y to an i and add es	stories babies
Nouns ending [vowel] y	valley chimney	add s	valleys chimneys
Nouns ending f or fe	dwarf hoof	ves and/or s (There are no rules - you have to know.)	dwarfs hooves or hoofs
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

Read more about English spelling rules.

Why Is There Confusion over the Plural of Baby?

"Babies" is the only way to make the noun "baby" plural.

Confusion arises because a noun that ends [vowel] + "y" (e.g., "donkey") forms its plural by adding just "s" (e.g., "donkeys").

Not Baby's

You cannot use "baby's" as the plural.

Read more about apostrophe abuse.

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