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Plural of Dice

What Is the Plural of Dice?

The Quick Answer

"Dice" is the plural form of "die." In modern standard English, "dice" is slowly becoming the accepted singular and plural form.
"Dice" is the plural form of "die." "Dice" is sometimes used to refer to a singular die.

If you want to play it safe:
Use dice if you are rolling two or more game pieces.
Use die, if you are only using one piece.
  • It's a roll of the dice in the movie business.correct tick
  • I shall never believe that God plays dice with the world.correct tick

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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 cat
scythe
add s cats
scythes
Noun Ending s, sh, ch, x or z bus
dress
add es buses
dresses
Nouns ending [consonant] o mango
zero
tomato
add either s or es
(There are no rules for this - you have to know.)
mangoes or mangos
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 (small British flag)
donkey
add s storeys
donkeys
Mass nouns rice
flour
some nouns do not have a plural form
rice
flour
Nouns ending f or fe dwarf
knife
ves and/or s
(There are no rules - you have to know.)
dwarfs
knives
Exceptions goose
louse
some nouns undergo a vowel or letters change geese
lice
More exceptions die
sheep
some nouns do not change at all dice
sheep
Read more about English spelling rules.

Why Is There Confusion over the Plural of Dice?

Confusion arises because people refer to "dice" in pairs so often that they don't realize it has a separate singular form.
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This page was written by Craig Shrives.

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