Plural of Emu

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The Quick Answer
The plural of emu is emus.

The Plural of Emu

The plural of emu is emus.
  • Emus are soft-feathered, brown, flightless birds with long necks and legs.
  • On very hot days, emus pant to maintain their body temperature.
The noun emu 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 emu
scythe		 add s emus
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 Emu?

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.
Another Interactive Exercise
Here are three randomly selected questions from another exercise on plurals, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students.

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See Also

Unusual pluralsPlural forming table Quirks with forming plurals Forming the plurals of abbreviations Forming the plurals of compound nouns