-s
/s/
-s suffix: used to form regular plurals of nouns. Also the alternative form of -'s.
Suffix (1)
-s
- Used to form regular plurals of nouns.
- one computer → five computers; Kennedy → Kennedys; hanger-on → hangers-on; lapful → lapfuls; cul-de-sac → cul-de-sacs; standby → standbys; push-up → push-ups; gin and tonic → gin and tonics; pair → pairs; beef → beefs
- Used to form many pluralia tantum (nouns that are almost or entirely without singular forms).
- shorts
- sunglasses
- Forms names of sciences and fields of studies from adjectives (See Usage notes)
- When appended to a number ending in at least one 0, expresses a range of numbers which share the digits before some or (usually) all of the 0s; frequently used for decades, centuries and temperatures.
- We often look back on the 1960s [the years from 1960 to 1969] with rose-tinted glasses.
- The Industrial Revolution went into full-swing during the 1800s [the years from 1800 to 1899 – but see usage notes].
Suffix (2)
-s
- Used to form the third-person singular indicative present tense of verbs.
- to eat → he eats
- Used in various other indicative present tenses
- I likes what I likes
Suffix (3)
-s
- Used in the formation of certain English adverbs.
- forward + -s → forwards
- downward + -s → downwards
Suffix (4)
-s
- Possessive marker, indicating that an object belongs to the word bearing the marker.
- hers; its; ones (now one’s); theirs
- (neopronouns): eirs; hirs; pers; thons; xyrs; zirs
Suffix (5)
-s
- Hypocoristic suffix
- Babs; moms; pops; homes; toots
Also used as
-s is also the alternative form of -'s.
-s is also the alternative spelling of 's.
-s meaning in Tagalog, Arabic, Persian and Thai
-s in Tagalog
- regular plurals of nouns
- mga
-s in Arabic
- regular plurals of nouns
- ـَانِ -āni, ـَيْنِ -ayni, ـُونَ -ūna, ـِينَ -īna, ـَات -āt
-s in Persian
- regular plurals of nouns
- ـها, ـهایی, ـهان
-s in Thai
- regular plurals of nouns
- พวก pûuak, เหล่า lào, ทั้งหลาย táng-lǎai
More languagesFewer languages
- -s in Vietnamese
- những, các, mấy
Forms of -s
| alternative form | -'s |
|---|---|
| alternative form | -es |
Origin of -s
Inherited from Middle English -s, -es, from Old English -as, nominative-accusative plural ending of masculine a-stem (i.e. strong) declension nouns, from Proto-West Germanic *-ōs, from Proto-Germanic *-ōs, *‑ōz, from Proto-Indo-European *-es, *-oes (plural endings). The spread of this ending in later Middle English was once argued to have been the result of Anglo-Norman influence; however, -as was already the most common Old English plural marker (used in approximately 40% of Old English nouns), and was initially more common in the North of England where French influence was weakest, only later gradually spreading south, replacing the usual southern plural ending -en. Cognate with Scots -s (plural ending), Saterland Frisian -s (plural ending), West Frisian -s (plural ending), Dutch -s (plural ending), Low German -s (plural ending), Danish -er (plural ending), Swedish -r, -ar, -or (plural ending), Icelandic -ar (plural ending), Gothic -𐍉𐍃 (-ōs, nominative plural ending of a-stem masculine nouns). Not directly related to German -er (plural ending) which has a different origin.
From Middle English -(e)s (third-person singular ending), from Northumbrian Old English -es, -as (third-person singular endings). Gradually replaced the older -eth, from Old English -(e)þ, -aþ, during the Middle English and Early Modern English periods. It is predominantly believed that -(e)s is identical to the Old English second-person singular ending -es, -est (cf. archaic Modern English -est, as in thou singest). The use for the third-person singular would have been caused by speakers of Old Norse who switched to speaking English and confounded the endings due to analogy with their native tongue. In Old Norse, the second and third person singular indicative forms were identical (e.g. þú masar, hann masar; þú þekkir, hann þekkir; etc.). An alternative theory sees the shift from /θ/ in -eth to /s/ (later /z/) in -(e)s as a mere phonetic simplification due to the frequency of the ending, but the objection to this is that no such development can be observed anywhere else in English. Nevertheless the relative similarity in sound between both forms may have facilitated the spread of -es.
From Middle English -es, from Old English -es, the masculine and neuter genitive singular ending of strong nouns. More at -'s.
Words formed from -s
Questions about -s
- What does -s mean?
- -s means used to form regular plurals of nouns.
- What is -s in Tagalog?
- -s in Tagalog is mga. See -s meaning in Tagalog.
- What part of speech is -s?
- -s is a suffix.
- How do you pronounce -s?
- -s is pronounced /s/.
Words near -s in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: -s (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “-s.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/-s. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.