…but they do all spell “heroes” with an ‘e’.
In these crazy quarantine times where most of us are stuck inside climbing the walls and driving each other crazy, there is a lot of talk about all the heroic people out there on the front lines. People like the healthcare heroes who are tending to the sick and the service heroes who are keeping us fed and all the other essential employee heroes who are keeping our critical infrastructure alive and functioning.
These heroes deserve our accolades, every last one of them, for risking exposure to make sure the rest of us stay safe and comfortable.
But do you know what else they deserve? They deserve our grammatical respect.
Plurals for words ending in O
I get it. Sometimes, the rules just don’t make sense. And words that end in ‘o’ are a perfect example of our favorite trickster language, English, throwing another curveball at us.
The confounding truth is that some words that end in ‘o’ use -s for a plural, others use -es, and some can go either way! In most cases, there is no clear rhyme or reason. Is it maddening? Yes. But as responsible protectors of the English language, it’s our duty to know which is which in order to retain literary credibility.
Vowel+o words
Let’s start with the easy part. Words ending in ‘o’ where the ‘o’ is preceded by another vowel always end in -s.
Examples: videos, stereos, rodeos, cameos, radios, patios, ratios, portfolios, pistachios, scenarios, Cheerios, kangaroos, zoos, tattoos, igloos, duos, embryos
Consonant+o words
And now we come to the hard part. There is no rule for words ending in ‘o’ where the ‘o’ is preceded by a consonant. None. Some words get -es for the plural and some words just get -s. It’s kind of the wild west out there, and the only way to know the difference is to memorize the lists.
But! I have excellent news for you! Since you’re trapped inside for a few more weeks, you have all the time in the world to start memorizing!
Consonant+o words that always take -es
The list of words where consonant+o is always followed by -es to form the plural is pretty short, so your memorization skills don’t actually need to be strained all that hard. What are you waiting for? Start memorizing!
- embargoes (never embargos)
- heroes (never heros)
- potatoes (never potatos)
- tomatoes (never tomatos)
- torpedoes (never torpedos)
- vetoes (never vetos)
Really. That’s it. Not so hard, is it?
Consonant+o words that can go either way
Too bad it’s not really that easy. There are also a few consonant+o words that can go either way, according to Merriam-Webster, and THESE are the real problem children.
Let’s take a look. All of the spellings below are technically acceptable, but even Merriam-Webster has a preference. The standard or preferred spelling for each word is in bold, but the alternate spelling is also allowed.
-es preferred (but -s only is okay)
- cargoes/cargos
- dominoes/dominos
- echoes/echos
- mangoes/mangos
- mosquitoes/mosquitos
- mottoes/mottos
- tornadoes/tornados
- volcanoes/volcanos
-s only preferred (but -es is okay)
- avocados/avocadoes
- banjos/banjoes
- flamingos/flamingoes
- ghettos/ghettoes
- halos/haloes
- mementos/mementoes
- stilettos/stilletoes
- tuxedos/tuxedoes
- zeros/zeroes
What the heck?
- buffalo/buffaloes/buffalos (The only ‘o’ word I came across in my research where the most preferred plural doesn’t end in -s OR -es! Though the other variants are still accepted.)
- frescoes/frescos (M-W only accepts frescoes, but other dictionaries do allow frescos as an alternate spelling.)
- fiascoes/fiascos (This appears to be the most controversial word on the entire list, since M-W only accepts fiascoes, while other dictionaries only accept fiascos. As if we needed any more drama here!)
Consonant+o words that always take -s
And then there is the class of consonant+o words that just take a simple -s, never -es. Remember, people: it’s Doritos, not Doritoes!
Examples: autos, armadillos, casinos, gazebos, gyros, hairdos, hippos, kilos, lassos, logos, memos, nachos, photos, pianos, placebos, sopranos, tacos, weirdos
Postscript: plural vs. possessive
Now that that is all as clear as mud, I feel compelled to circle back around to “heroes” and also point out that plural is not possessive. Heroes is plural (there are heroes in our midst), but hero’s is possessive (as in a hero’s journey story arc). There are never, ever, ever any hero’s in our midst.
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