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Plural of Buffalo

by Craig Shrives

The Quick Answer

The plural of "buffalo" is "buffaloes" or "buffalos."

The Plural of Buffalo

The plural of "buffalo" is "buffaloes" or "buffalos."

Buffaloes will engage in mobbing behavior when fighting off predators.
In some areas, buffalos are still hunted for meat.

The noun "buffalo" 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	buffalo zero tomato	add either s or es (There are no rules for this - you have to know.)	buffaloes or buffalos 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	dwarf knife	ves and/or s (There are no rules - you have to know.)	dwarfs knives
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 Buffalo?

There is confusion because the rule for forming plurals with nouns ending in "o" isn't straightforward. Most nouns will just add an "s." For example:

"Kangaroo" becomes "kangaroos."
"Piano" becomes "pianos."

Some add es. For example:

"Embargo" becomes "embargoes."
"Torpedo" becomes "torpedoes."

With some words, both versions are accepted. For example:

"Halo" becomes "haloes" or "halos."
"Echo" becomes "echoes" or "echos."

The plural of "buffalo" can be either "buffaloes" or "buffalos." Unfortunately, there is no clever way of knowing which nouns ending "o" follow which rules. You have to know. (For example, you have to know that "solo" becomes "solos," but "potato" becomes "potatoes.")

Though "buffaloes" and "buffalos" are both accepted plurals, "buffaloes" is the more common of the two. (See the difference in Google's Ngram Viewer.)

Beware

Don't Use an Apostrophe to Form a Plural

Adding 's is never an option when forming the plural of a noun. Despite this simple rule, inexperienced writers often feel compelled to add an apostrophe, especially when the noun ends with a vowel (e.g., piano, tomato, emu). For example:

Animals that use echo's are cetaceans.
Animals that use echoes are cetaceans.

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