Plural of Shelf

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The Plural of Shelf

The plural of "shelf" is "shelves."

• The album is never finished until it's on the shelves! (Rita Ora)
• Shelves are normally made of strong materials such as wood, bamboo, or steel.

The noun "shelf" 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	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 shelf	ves and/or s (There are no rules - you have to know.)	dwarfs shelves
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 Shelf?

There is confusion because the rule for forming plurals with nouns ending in "f" or "fe" isn't straightforward. Most nouns will drop the "f" or "fe" and gain a "ves." For example:

• "Knife" becomes "knives."
• "Wolf" becomes "wolves."

Some just add s. For example:

• "Safe" becomes "safes."
• "Cliff" becomes "cliffs."

With some words, both versions are accepted. For example:

• "Scarf" becomes "scarfs" or "scarves."
• "Dwarf" becomes "dwarfs" or "dwarves."

The plural of "shelf" is always "shelves." Unfortunately, there is no clever way of knowing which nouns ending "f" or "fe" follow which rules. You have to know. (For example, you have to know that "shelf" becomes "shelves," but "brief" becomes "briefs.")

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