Plural of Fish

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The Plural of Fish

The plural of "fish" is "fish" or "fishes."

• Fish range in size from 8 millimeters to 16 meters.
• Ana Ortiz plays my sister in "Sleeping with the Fishes." (Gina Rodriguez)

The plurals "fish" and "fishes" can be used interchangeably. However, biologists observe a distinction between "fish" and "fishes." In biology, "fishes" best translates as types of fish.

• Our pond contains 3 fishes. There are about 100 fish in total.

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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	fish dress	add es	fishes 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	goose louse	some nouns undergo a vowel or letters change	geese lice
More exceptions	salmon fish	some nouns do not change at all	salmon fish

Read more about English spelling rules.

Why Is There Confusion over the Plural of Fish?

Confusion arises because "fish" and "fishes" are used interchangeably. For example:

• He is sleeping with the fishes.
• There are plenty more fish in the sea.

Of note, the verb "to fish" becomes "fishes" in the third person present tense.

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