Plural of Moose

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The Plural of Moose

The plural of "moose" is "moose."

• Unlike most other deer species, moose are solitary animals and do not form herds.
• Moose are excellent swimmers and are known to wade into water to eat aquatic plants.

Moose not Meese

There are no options for the plural of "moose." It is always "moose." Even though the plural of "goose" is "geese," this pattern cannot be followed because "moose" and "goose" have different origins. More specifically, "goose" comes from the Old English word "gos," and "moose" comes from Algonquian (a language of First Nations people based around Canada's Ottawa River valley). In Algonquian, the plural of "moose" is "moose," and both the singular and plural forms were adopted into English. Therefore, adding "-s" in the usual way to make "mooses" is a mistake.

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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	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	goose louse	some nouns undergo a vowel or letters change	geese lice
More exceptions	salmon moose	some nouns do not change at all	salmon moose

Read more about English spelling rules.

Why Is There Confusion over the Plural of Moose?

"Moose" is the only way to make the noun "moose" plural.

Confusion arises because "moose" remains unchanged in its plural form. Unfortunately, there is no clever way of knowing which nouns follow which rules. You have to know.

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