How do I present a word ending in “‑f ” that may be plural or singular?

Question

When we don’t know if a word refers to one or more, it is common to use a parenthetical s:

door/doors: door(s)
lamp/lamps: lamp(s)

What’s the best or least awkward way to render this for words that change their form when pluralizing, such as words ending in -f ?

shelf/shelves: shelf(ves)?
dwarf/dwarves: dwarf(ves)?

...I won't swear to it, but I'm pretty sure I've seen just (s) used with words even if that's not how you'd form the plural, it just denotes "possibly plural." — kitukwfyer, Apr 01 '11 at 20:34
Most of them take both -s and -ves. Leaf is the only one I can think of that is strictly pluralized as leaves. — Jimi Oke, Apr 01 '11 at 21:16
@Jimi Oke: Really? Shelfs, dwarfs, wolfs, halfs, hoofs, thiefs, roofs. None of those look right. — David Eyk, Apr 01 '11 at 21:53
OK, that was a blanket statement. However, a quick look at the dictionary will reveal that dwarfs/dwarves and hoofs/hooves are correct. The only plural of roof is roofs. And I concede that shelf, wolf, half and thief are always pluralized with ves. — Jimi Oke, Apr 01 '11 at 21:56
Dwarfs is the correct term when referring to humans with Dwarfism or star classifications. Dwarves is generally used in the fantasy fiction realm. — Sam, Apr 01 '11 at 22:18
Related: Parenthetical pluralization of words ending in '-y' and so on. — herisson, Apr 16 '17 at 01:29
In particular, the more general question is How to write a parenthetical plural when the noun pluralizes irregularly? — herisson, Jun 29 '17 at 16:20

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 01 '11 at 20:35

7

I've typically seen this done by maintaining the format and leaving the reader to make the appropriate change in pronunciation.

self(s)
dwarf(s)

There may be a better way, but I haven't seen it in usage and this is certainly easy to program for if that's what you happen to be doing. The change is not particularly difficult to make for a native speaking reader, and even for non-natives the other alternatives are likely to be more confusing.

answered Apr 01 '11 at 20:35

Caleb

4,339

1

The only "better" way I can think of is to rephrase, generally by presuming plurality. – Marthaª Apr 02 '11 at 00:27

How do I present a word ending in “‑f ” that may be plural or singular?

1 Answers1