Only The Ones With Flawless English Can Score A Perfect 21/21 In This Plural Word Trivia

This trivia serves as a commemoration of the moment English learners found out that the plural of the word ‘fish’ is not actually what they thought it would be…

Just as someone thinks they have mastered English, a bunch of irregular plural versions of nouns come up and ruin it. The nouns that don’t follow the usual rule of making them plural come as a surprise at times, since some of those words are not used so much in daily life and we tend to use the usual rule. Some of them are English, and some of their etymologies go back to Latin.

Come and take this trivia quiz and let’s learn together!

Clownfish swimming among sea anemones, illustrating plurals in English.

Malia Evans

1. Let's start with one of the most popular ones. What is the plural version of 'fish'?

Fish

Fishs

Fishes

Fissh

Hands slicing raw tuna on a wooden board, illustrating English plurals.

Cottonbro studios

2. What about the plural of 'tuna'?

Tuna

Tunas

Tunes

Tunnas

Person expressing frustration, hands on head, illustrating the plural of 'crisis' in English.

Skylar Kang

3. What is the correct plural version of 'crisis'?

Crisis

Crisises

Crisiss

Crises

Cluster of green cacti with spines in sunlight, exploring plurals in English language context.

William Laverty

4. What is the plural of 'cactus'?

Cactuses

Cacti

Cactus

Cactuss

Stack of documents tied with string, representing plurals in English; focus on papers for 'appendix' plural forms.

Sam J

5. Now it's time for a long word. Choose the plural of 'appendix.'

Appendixes

Appendix

Appendices

Appendixs

Aurora borealis lights up the night sky with vibrant colors, illustrating a natural phenomenon.

Visit Greenland

6. This one is even tough to say out loud. Which one is the correct plural version of 'phenomenon'?

Phenomenons

Phenomenones

Phenomena

Phenomenas

Young calf standing in a meadow, highlighting "calf" in plurals in English.

Pixabay

7. This one might be a bit easier. Choose the correct plural version of 'calf.'

Calf

Calfs

Calf

Calves

Cluster of mushrooms growing on forest floor, illustrating the plural of 'fungus.'

Marcus Lange

8. Can you choose the plural of 'fungus'?

Fungas

Fungus

Fungi

Fungus

A mouse eating, showcasing the topic of plurals in English.

Pixabay

9. What is the plural of 'mouse'?

Mouses

Mice

Mouse

Mises

A goose in focus with a group of geese in the background near a lake.

Pixabay

10. Since the subject of animals came up, what about the plural of 'goose'?

Gooses

Goose

Goese

Geese

Graduates celebrating by tossing caps, a moment related to plurals in English like the plural of alumnus.

Emily Ranquist

11. Can you guess the plural of 'alumnus'?

Alumnus

Alumnis

Alumne

Alumni

Close-up of pages in an open book, related to the plural of 'thesis' in English.

Pixabay

12. What is the plural of 'thesis'?

Thesises

These

Theses

Thesi

Close-up of a textured beige surface, highlighting details of English plurals discussion.

Cottonbro studios

13. Can you guess the plural of 'stimulus'?

Stimulu

Stimula

Stimule

Stimuli

Close-up of a wolf, illustrating the plural form 'wolves' in English.

Steve

14. What is the plural of 'wolf'?

Wolfes

Wolfs

Wolvs

Wolves

A Highland ox standing in a grassy field with a blurred forest backdrop.

Carolin Wenske

15. Choose the plural form of 'ox.'

Oxe

Oxin

Oxen

Oxes

Two friends smiling outdoors, perfect example of "brothers-in-law" in casual attire, enjoying a day out.

Brett Sayles

16. What is the plural form of 'brother-in-law'?

Brother-in-law

Brothers-in-law

Brothers-in-laws

Brother-in-laws

A hippo in water with its mouth wide open, showcasing large teeth.

Anil Sharma

17. This one's here just to boost your points. What is the plural form of 'tooth'?

Teth

Tooths

Teeth

Teeths

Gloved hand holding a petri dish under soft light, illustrating concept of plurals in English.

Anna Shvets

18. Up until now, we've only asked for the plural forms of words. Now let's make some nouns singular. What is the singular version of the word 'bacteria'?

Bacteri

Bacterie

Bacterium

Bacteria

Person washing hair with soap, relevant to lice treatment and English plurals discussion.

Kaboompics

19. What is the singular form of 'lice'?

Licea

Lousea

Lic

Louse

Netflix interface displaying various series banners on a television screen.

Kaboompics

20. What is the singular form of 'series'?

Serie

Series

Seriea

Sere

Checklist with a red check mark, relating to choosing the correct singular form of 'criteria.'

Tara Winstead

21. Choose the correct singular form of 'criteria.'

Criteri

Criteria

Criterium

Criterion

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What do you think ?

POST

Ace 3 months ago

All OK, as questions go, apart from the first and the last; both criterium and fishes are acceptable alternatives in some circumstances..

24points

zububonsai 3 months ago

Yep, wasn't it like "fish" is the "usual everyday plural" of "fish" (like, the edible ones you buy in a supermarket), and the rarer form "fishes" used more in zoological context when describing different sorts of fish?

14points

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Robert T 3 months ago

Fishes is used when you mean several different kinds of fish. Fish is the correct plural of fish. And althouigh criterium is a word, it is not related to the word criteria, so it can't be the singular form of it.

8points

Guess Undheit 3 months ago

"Fishes" for different species, "fish" when all of the same.

5points

Sue 3 months ago

I thought fishes was used as a plural when talking about different types of fishes.

4points

Apatheist Account2 3 months ago (edited)

No, it's only ever criterion. Don't try to justify it because you got one wrong :) Criterium is a cycling event.

4points

Michael MacKinnon 3 months ago

According to the online OED and Merriam-Webster, criterium is just a bike race. The criterion-criteria pairing is from Latin. But yes, fishes can be ok.

1point

Alexandra 3 months ago

Yep, as in 'sleep with the fishes'.....

1point

Aidan Pite 3 months ago

Well that makes me feel better about flubbing that last one!

0points

Trillian 3 months ago

Never mind that english is my second language, my third is latin and that helped a lot.

17points

tameson 3 months ago

Yep. Like all the ones where the plural ended in I.

2points

Robert T 3 months ago

21/21, but most of those words aren't really English. They are Latin or Greek words adopted into English and so the rules for plurals come from those languages. The trick is knowing which set of rules to apply.

7points

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POST

Ace 3 months ago

All OK, as questions go, apart from the first and the last; both criterium and fishes are acceptable alternatives in some circumstances..

24points

zububonsai 3 months ago

14points

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Robert T 3 months ago

8points

Guess Undheit 3 months ago

"Fishes" for different species, "fish" when all of the same.

5points

Sue 3 months ago

I thought fishes was used as a plural when talking about different types of fishes.

4points

Apatheist Account2 3 months ago (edited)

No, it's only ever criterion. Don't try to justify it because you got one wrong :) Criterium is a cycling event.

4points

Michael MacKinnon 3 months ago

According to the online OED and Merriam-Webster, criterium is just a bike race. The criterion-criteria pairing is from Latin. But yes, fishes can be ok.

1point