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Plural of Doe

by Craig Shrives

The Quick Answer

The plural of "doe" is "does."

The Plural of Doe

The plural of "doe" is "does."

Does are considerably smaller than deer.
Does are capable of breeding at seven months old.

The noun "doe" 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	doe scythe	add s	does 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 () 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 Doe?

There is confusion because inexperienced writers often feel compelled to add an apostrophe when a noun ends with a vowel (e.g., piano, tomato, emu). Adding 's is never an option when forming the plural of a noun.

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Suitable for: Teachers, advanced students, and business writers.

Description: Published by London's Octopus Publishing, "Smashing Grammar" is the third, and most comprehensive, grammar reference book written by Craig Shrives (the founder of the Grammar-Monster.com). It is divided into three sections: