Plural of Status

by Craig Shrives

The Quick Answer

The plural of "status" is "status" or "statuses."

Both "status" and "statuses" are used in the UK and the US. "Statuses" is marginally more popular than "status." ("Status" has been losing ground against "statuses" since the 1960s.)

The Plural of Status

The plural of "status" can be "status" or "statuses," but "statuses" is the more common. [evidence]
  • The system has four alert status related to the avalanche risk. correct tick
    • (It is acceptable to use "status," but "statuses" is marginally more common in the UK and the US.)
  • It is evident that we are seeing protestors from across various social statuses. correct tick

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The Standard Rules for Forming the Plurals

The table below shows where "status" fits within the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English.
Type Example of Type Forming the Plural Plural
Most Nouns yeti
scythe		 add s yetis
scythes
Noun Ending s, sh, ch, x or z status
dress		 add es statuses
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 (small British flag)
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 status
salmon
sheep 		some nouns do not change at all status
salmon
sheep
Read more about English spelling rules.

Why Is There Confusion over the Plural of Status?

As "status" is a Latin word, many expect the plural to be "stati." However, "stati" is not used. Using the standard rules for forming plurals in English, the plural of "status" is "statuses," which is widely used. However, as this sounds awkward, "status" is also commonly used as the plural.

According to a lively debate on Wikipedia, the plural of "status" is "statūs" pronounced with a long u (i.e., "statoos").

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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