Plural of Dragonfly

The Plural of Dragonfly

The plural of "dragonfly" is "dragonflies."

• There are about 3000 species of dragonflies.
• Dragonflies are found on every continent except Antarctica.

The noun "dragonfly" 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	dragonfly penny	change the y to an i and add es	dragonflies pennies
Nouns ending [vowel] y	journey donkey	add s	journeys donkeys
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 Dragonfly?

"Dragonflies" is the only way to make the noun "dragonfly" plural.

Confusion arises because some people mistakenly believe that most nouns should form a plural ending in "s." When a noun ends with [consonant] + y, you need to change the "y" to an "i" and add "es" to form the plural.