What’s the Plural of Wife? Simple Answer and Tips

If you’re wondering how to turn wife into its plural form, the answer is easy: wives. That extra "e" turns into an "i" and you add an "s" at the end. It’s one of those English quirks that trips people up, but once you see the pattern it becomes second nature.

How to Form the Plural

English has a handful of rules for making nouns plural. With wife you follow the “change f or fe to ves” rule. Words like knife → knives, leaf → leaves, and wife → wives all switch the f or fe to v and add es. So whenever you see a noun ending in f or fe, think "maybe it becomes ves."

To use it correctly, just treat wives like any other plural noun. For example: "My friends have three wives between them," or "The conference welcomed many wives of the attendees." The verb agreement follows the usual plural rules – use are instead of is, have instead of has, and so on.

Common Mistakes and Fun Facts

People sometimes write wifes or wifes' out of habit, but that’s incorrect. The only time you’d keep the f is with a proper noun that doesn’t follow the rule, like the brand name "Wife" in a product title. Another mix‑up is using wifes when you actually need the possessive form: the correct possessive for a single wife is wife’s, and for multiple wives it’s wives’ (the apostrophe goes after the s).

Fun fact: the f → v switch comes from Old English, where the sound shifted over time. That historical quirk is why we still have knives and leaves today.

So, remember: wife → wives. Keep an eye on the f ending, switch it to v, add es, and you’re good to go. Next time you write a sentence about more than one spouse, you’ll have the right word ready without a second thought.