'Womans' or 'Women': What is the Plural of 'Woman'?

Are you wondering what the plural of ‘woman’ is? This article will tackle that and also teach you how to use both forms of the word in a sentence.

The plural form of ‘woman’ is ‘women.’ Using ‘womans’ is incorrect.

What Does ‘Woman’ Mean?

Let’s quickly define the word ‘woman.’

According to Merriam-Webster, ‘woman’ can be defined as: “an adult female person” or “a woman belonging to a particular category (as by birth, residence, membership, or occupation) – usually used in combination.

What is the Plural of ‘Woman’ – ‘Womans’ or ‘Women’

The correct way to use the plural form of the word ‘woman’ is ‘women’ – not ‘womans.’

Why the Plural Version Can Be Tricky to Spell

While most words in the American English language follow basic rules for pluralization, the word ‘woman’ is one of the many exceptions to the rules.

The English language started out as a West Germanic language and is made up of French, Russian, Spanish, German, and Dutch, among others.

In fact, there are words from over 350 languages that have been added to the English language. That’s why the pluralization rules are different for certain words.

Standard Pluralization Rules

Typically, when trying to spell the plural form of a noun, you’d add ‘s’ or ‘es.’

For example:

• Smile > Smiles
• Floor > Floors
• Tux > Tuxes
• Watch > Watches

But some words follow a different set of rules, based on how they’re spelled. For instance, for words ending with a ‘y’, you’d drop the ‘y’ and add an ‘ies.’

For example:

• Sky > Skies
• Fly > Flies
• Dry > Dries

But some words change letters without adding an ‘s,’ ‘es,’ or ‘ies.’ For instance, the word woman follows these rules. Other examples include:

• Child > Children
• Person > People
• Die > Dice
• Foot > Feet
• Mouse > Mice

And some words don’t change at all. A few examples would be:

• Fish > Fish
• Sheep > Sheep
• Deer > Deer
• Moose > Moose
• Salmon > Salmon

Using Both Forms in a Sentence

Know that you’ve learned the definition of a woman and you know how to pluralize it, let’s use both forms in a sentence.

Examples of ‘Woman’ in a Sentence

• The woman in the yellow dress smiles at me every morning.
• That’s the woman from the back of my novel.
• A woman came running into the room, screaming for help.

Examples of ‘Women’ in a Sentence

• Three women from the PTA started a book club.
• Two women were attacked by coyotes in the mountains, according to the news.
• They told me this league wasn’t for women.

Possessive Forms of the Word ‘Woman’

To express ‘woman’ in the singular possessive form, you’d say ‘woman's,' but in the plural possessive form, it would be womens' (to indicate more than one woman).

Here are a few examples of how to use the singular possessive form in a sentence:

• That woman's wig is slipping off, but she doesn't even notice.
• It's not that woman's fault because she was cut off in traffic.

Here are a few examples of how to use the plural possessive form in a sentence:

• Our favorite womens' basketball team is definitely going to the finals this year.
• This is the womens' locker room, so no men are allowed inside.

Final Thoughts on Using ‘Woman’ and ‘Women’

Using the plural form of ‘woman’ – which is ‘women’ – shouldn’t be too difficult with the above information at hand.

To refresh your memory, remember that the word ‘woman’ doesn’t follow the typical rules of pluralization for English words. There’s no adding ‘s,’ ‘es,’ or ‘ies.’ The ending of the word changes completely. The plural possessive form of the word is ‘women’s.’

The plural forms of words like leaf and goose can be just as tricky.

Browse our collection of blog posts about confusing words if you ever have trouble remembering how to pluralize certain words.