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Plural of whiskey

What Is the Plural of Whiskey?

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The Quick Answer

The plural of "whiskey" is "whiskeys." The plural of "whisky" is "whiskies."
Before learning about the plural of "whiskey," it is worth learning about the difference between "whiskey" and "whisky." In Scotland, they make Scotch whisky, but in Ireland, they make Irish whiskey.

The plural of "whiskey" is "whiskeys."
  • Most Irish whiskeys are distilled from barley that's dried in kilns. correct tick
The plural of "whisky" is "whiskies."
  • Most Scotch whiskies are made from barley that's dried over peat smoke. correct tick
The nouns "whiskey" and "whisky" adhere 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 whisky
penny
change the y to an i and add es whiskies
pennies
Nouns ending [vowel] y whiskey
chimney
add s whiskeys
chimneys
Nouns ending f or fe dwarf
hoof
ves and/or s
(There are no rules - you have to know.)
dwarfs
hooves or hoofs
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 whiskey?

"Whiskeys" is the only way to make the noun "whiskey" plural and "whiskies" is the only way to make the noun "whisky" plural.

Confusion arises because some people don't realise there is a difference between Scotch whisky and Irish whiskey.
Some mistakenly believe all nouns ending in "y" should form a plural ending in "ies". When a noun ends with [vowel] + y, you only need to add an "s" to form the plural.

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This page was written by Craig Shrives.

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