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Plural of Kiwi

by Craig Shrives

The Quick Answer

The plural of "kiwi" is "kiwis" or, less commonly, "kiwi."

The Plural of Kiwi

The most common plural of "kiwi" is "kiwis":

Named after the flightless kiwi bird, New Zealanders overseas and at home are commonly referred to as Kiwis.
Kiwis (also called kiwifruits or Chinese gooseberries) are available year-round because they keep well in cold storage.

"Kiwi" is also used as a plural, typically by biologists referring to the bird, not the fruit.

Kiwi are more closely related to the extinct Malagasy elephant birds than to the moa.

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The Standard Rules for Forming the Plurals

The table below shows where the plural of "kiwi" fits within the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English.

Type	Example of Type	Forming the Plural	Plural
Most Nouns	kiwi scythe	add s	kiwis 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	kiwi salmon sheep	some nouns do not change at all	kiwi (This version is now considered obsolete.) salmon sheep

Why Is There Confusion over the Plural of Kiwi?

There is confusion because "kiwi" has two acceptable plurals: "kiwi" and "kiwis." [evidence]

Also, inexperienced writers often feel compelled to pluralize a noun ending with a vowel (e.g., piano, tomato, emu) by adding apostrophe "s".

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: