-s

• IPA^(key): /s/ (following a voiceless consonant /p, t, k, f, θ/)
• IPA^(key): /z/ (postvocalic or following a voiced consonant /m, n, ŋ, b, d, ɡ, v, ð, l, ɹ/)
• IPA^(key): /ɪz/ (following a sibilant consonant /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/—usually written -es)
  • IPA^(key): /əz/ (weak vowel merger)
• Homophones: -'s, 's

From Middle English -s, -es, from Old English -as, nominative-accusative plural ending of masculine a-stem (i.e. strong) declension nouns, from Proto-West Germanic *-ōs, from Proto-Germanic *-ōs, *‑ōz, from Proto-Indo-European *-es, *-oes (plural endings). The spread of this ending in later Middle English was once argued to have been the result of Anglo-Norman influence; however, -as was already the most common Old English plural marker (used in approximately 40% of Old English nouns), and was initially more common in the North of England where French influence was weakest, only later gradually spreading south. Cognate with Scots -s (plural ending), Saterland Frisian -s (plural ending), West Frisian -s (plural ending), Dutch -s (plural ending), Low German -s (plural ending), Danish -er (plural ending), Swedish -r, -ar, -or (plural ending), Icelandic -ar (plural ending), Gothic -𐍉𐍃 (-ōs, nominative plural ending of a-stem masculine nouns). Not directly related to German -er (plural ending) which has a different origin.

-s

1. Used to form regular plurals of nouns.

   one computer → five computers

2. Used to form many pluralia tantum (nouns that are almost or entirely without singular forms).

   shorts

   sunglasses

3. When appended to a number ending in at least one 0, expresses a range of numbers which share the digits before some or (usually) all of the 0s; frequently used for decades, centuries and temperatures.

   We often look back on the 1960s [the years from 1960 to 1969] with rose-tinted glasses.

   The Industrial Revolution went into full-swing during the 1800s [the years from 1800 to 1899 – but see usage notes].

   The temperature today will be in the low 30s.

   He placed in the 200s in the end.

• (regular plurals): In semi-formal or formal contexts, where the plurality of a noun depends on some unknown aspect of the sentence, the s may be parenthesised: "The winner(s) will be invited to a prize ceremony."
• (number): Decades formed with -s are usually pronounced as if they were written as two separate numbers. For example, 1970s is read as nineteen-seventies, as if it were written as 19 70s, not as *nineteen-hundred seventies or *one thousand nine hundred and seventies.
• (number): When the number before the -s ends in more than one zero, there is ambiguity about the range of numbers that is meant. For example, 1800s could mean "the years from 1800 to 1899; the entire 19th century" or "the years from 1800 to 1809; the first decade of the 19th century". The intended meaning can usually be derived from context.

The translations below are a guide only. See individual words for precise translations.

From Middle English -(e)s (third-person singular ending), from Northumbrian Old English -es, -as (third-person singular endings). Gradually replaced the older -eth, from Old English -(e)þ, -aþ, during the Middle English and Early Modern English periods.

It is predominantly believed that -(e)s is identical to the Old English second-person singular ending -es, -est (cf. archaic Modern English -est, as in thou singest). The use for the third-person singular would have been caused by speakers of Old Norse who switched to speaking English and confounded the endings due to analogy with their native tongue. In Old Norse, the second and third person singular indicative forms were identical (e.g. þú masar, hann masar; þú þekkir, hann þekkir; etc.).

An alternative theory sees the shift from /θ/ in -eth to /s/ (later /z/) in -(e)s as a mere phonetic simplification due to the frequency of the ending, but the objection to this is that no such development can be observed anywhere else in English. Nevertheless the relative similarity in sound between both forms may have facilitated the spread of -es.

-s

1. Used to form the third-person singular indicative present tense of verbs.

   to eat → he eats

• In Standard English, the -s suffix is only used to mark the third person singular present of verbs; however, in some varieties of English, particularly northern English, Scottish, US Southern and AAVE, the -s can be extended to other persons/numbers as well, as in: I eats me spinach; I hates the Yankees; they likes it here; etc.
• As in modern nonstandard varieties, the -s suffix can be used to mark the third-person plural in Early Modern English. However, it is less common than the modern standard zero ending, and is frequently only found in restricted contexts; for instance, Shakespeare only uses it where a plural subject has "singular" semantics.[1]

From Middle English -es, from Old English -es, the masculine and neuter genitive singular ending of strong nouns. More at -'s.

-s

1. Used in the formation of certain English adverbs.

   ‎forward + ‎-s → ‎forwards

   ‎downward + ‎-s → ‎downwards

   ‎alway + ‎-s → ‎always

   ‎sometime + ‎-s → ‎sometimes

   ‎betime + ‎-s → ‎betimes

   ‎while + ‎-s → ‎whiles

   ‎betide + ‎-s → ‎betides

   ‎toward + ‎-s → ‎towards

   ‎beside + ‎-s → ‎besides

   ‎evening + ‎-s → ‎evenings

   ‎unaware + ‎-s → ‎unawares

• -st

A variant spelling of -'s, partly an archaism, partly by dropping the apostrophe.

• -'s (on pronouns; now nonstandard)
• -es (obsolete)

-s

1. (on pronouns) Possessive marker, indicating that an object belongs to the word bearing the marker.

   hers; its; ones (now one’s); theirs

   (neopronouns): eirs; hirs; pers; thons; xyrs; zirs

2. (on nouns, now nonstandard) Alternative form of -'s

   devils doorbell; dogs-bane; St. Marys; (obsolete) kings

• In most cases where -s is found nowadays as a possessive case marker, it is a simple misspelling of -'s. However, possessive determiners derived from personal pronouns use -s (e.g. its, not it's). The same is true of pronouns derived from possessive determiners (e.g. theirs, not their's). The possessive form of who takes -se (whose, not who's).
• Bare -s is used in some business names that derive from possessive family names, e.g. Barclays and Harrods, but compare Sainsbury’s; compare Wikipedia's article on possessives in business names. In speech, /z/ (or /s/) is sometimes added to business names which have neither -s nor -'s in writing, resulting in s-forms, which see.
• Sometimes used in place names; e.g., Harpers Ferry (formerly spelled “Harper’s Ferry”), Queens County (note that the former name of County Laois was officially “Queen’s County”, however, the apostrophe-less spelling is well-attested).

Modern sense in slang [circa 1936]. According to OED, a colloquial clipping of the hypocoristic diminutive suffix -sy. As AHD writes, -sy itself usually being informal, ironic and/or jocular, and possibly a combination of -s (“plural marker”) and conflation of -y as adjectival with its sense as a diminutive suffix (e.g. puppy, kitty), the latter notion probably from Scots.

-s

1. (informal, colloquial, sometimes humorous) Hypocoristic suffix

   Babs; moms; pops; homes; toots

Unsorted:

• -sies

Inherited from Dutch -st.

-s (plural -ste)

1. appended to the stem of a verb, this suffix yields a verbal noun

   ‎dien + ‎-s → ‎diens

Inherited from Dutch -s (a suffix for forming plurals).

-s

1. Used to form regular plurals of nouns that end in certain suffixes or syllables, such as -el, -er, -en, -em, -eur, -aar, -aard, diminutive -ie, etc.

   ‎redakteur + ‎-s → ‎redakteurs

2. Used to form irregular plurals of many other nouns, chiefly of foreign origin.

   ‎ateljee + ‎-s → ‎ateljees

Inherited from Dutch -s, from the genitive case of Dutch masculine and neuter nouns and adjectives, Middle Dutch -s, -es, from Old Dutch -es, -is, from Proto-Germanic *-as, *-is.

-s

1. Used to form the partitive form of the adjective

   nuut → iets nuuts

   groot → niks groots nie

Inherited from Dutch -s, from earlier -sch, from Middle Dutch -sch, from Old Dutch -isc, from Proto-West Germanic *-isk, from Proto-Germanic *-iskaz, from Proto-Indo-European *-iskos.

-s

1. Used to form adjectives of characteristic from nouns.

   ‎winter (“winter”) + ‎-s → ‎winters (“wintery”)

   ‎spel (“game”) + ‎-s → ‎speels (“playful”)

2. Used to form adjectives or language names from place names.

   ‎Engeland (“England”) + ‎-s → ‎Engels (“English”)

   ‎Finland (“Finland”) + ‎-s → ‎Fins (“Finnish”)

Possibly akin to Old Armenian -իչ (-ičʻ), both reconstructible to a tentative Proto-Indo-European *-ikʷyo-s, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- (“to gather”),[1][2] whence also Ancient Greek ποιέω (poiéō, “to do”), Sanskrit चिनोति (cinóti, “to arrange, pile up”).

-s

1. Forms agent nouns.

   Synonym: -ar

• Becomes -ës after consonants.
• When attached to o- or ua-stem verbs the stem and the suffix merge into -ues in the modern standard, following Gheg practice, while traditionally made -onjës following Tosk practice.
• Similarly, when attached to e- or ye-stem verbs they give rise to -yes in Gheg and the modern standard, while -enjës in Tosk and the old standard.

• Newmark, L., Hubbard, P., Prifti, P. (1982) Standard Albanian: a reference grammar for students, Stanford University Press, →ISBN, § 3.4.1 A, page 164

From English -s (“plural suffix”).

-s

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, neologism, humorous or sarcastic, rare, written only) Used to emphasise that there are multiple instances of the noun

   有車s有樓s／有车s有楼s [Cantonese]  ―  jau⁵ ce¹ jau⁵ lau^4-2 [Jyutping]  ―  to own cars and flats

May be repeated to further emphasise the number of instances of the noun.

有樓sss／有楼sss [Cantonese]  ―  jau⁵ lau^4-2 [Jyutping]  ―  to own many flatsss

• Victor Chan Haw Fung (1999) “Hong Kong English and the Internet”, in Unpublished MA dissertation (in Chinese), page 40: “Some of these words have plural forms like leng luis in (example 13).”

• IPA^(key): [ s]

-s

1. Alternative form of -si

From Old Norse -s, originally the genitive singular ending of a-stem nouns. Cognate with Swedish -s.

-s

1. Used to form genitive/possessive phrases, attached to the last word in a noun phrase.

   Danmarks dronning ― the Queen of Denmark

   Københavns snefald ― snowfall in Copenhagen

Unknown. Not present in Old Dutch, which used -a from Proto-Germanic *-ōz as the plural ending. Possibly spread from Middle Low German -s, -es, from Old Saxon -os, -as, from Proto-Germanic *-ōs. Further etymology is unknown, but cognate with Old English -as (English -s).

-s pl

1. Used to form regular plurals of nouns that end in certain suffixes or syllables, such as -el, -er, -en, -em, -eur, -aar, -aard, diminutive -je, etc.

   ‎bodem + ‎-s → ‎bodems

2. Used to form irregular plurals of many other nouns, chiefly of foreign origin.

   ‎telefoon + ‎-s → ‎telefoons

• Nouns ending in unstressed -e generally have a plural in -s and one in -n (ziekte > ziektes, ziekten). Individual words, however, allow just one of the two ways.
• Most words of Latin origin ending in -um are pluralized with the suffix -s (museum > museums) or by replacing -um with -a (> musea). The latter tends to be preferred in formal style.

From the genitive case of masculine and neuter nouns and adjectives, Middle Dutch -s, -es, from Old Dutch -es, -is, from Proto-Germanic *-as, *-is.

-s

1. (archaic, except in fixed expressions) Used to form the genitive case of (strong) masculine and neuter nouns.

   tijd → de tand des tijds

2. Used to form the genitive case of proper nouns and some pronouns.

   Pieter → Pieters jas

   iemand → iemands jas

3. Used to form the partitive form of the adjective

   lief → iets liefs

4. Used to form adverbs

   stad → steeds

The adverbial/adjectival -s combines with other suffixes like :

• -lijk → -lijks
• -je → -jes
• -ling → -lings
• -waarts

From earlier -sch, from Middle Dutch -sch, from Old Dutch -isc, from Proto-West Germanic *-isk, from Proto-Germanic *-iskaz (from which also -isch via German), from Proto-Indo-European *-iskos.

-s

1. Used to form adjectives of characteristic from nouns.

   ‎winter (“winter”) + ‎-s → ‎winters (“wintery”)

   ‎spel (“game”) + ‎-s → ‎speels (“playful”)

2. Used to form adjectives or language names from names of nations or countries.

   ‎Engeland (“England”) + ‎-s → ‎Engels (“English”)

   ‎Finland (“Finland”) + ‎-s → ‎Fins (“Finnish”)

From Proto-Finnic *-isa. Related to Finnish -isa, Ingrian -isa, Votic -sa.

-s (genitive -sa, partitive -sat, comparative -sam, superlative kõige -sam)

1. creates adjectives from nouns

   ‎au (“honour”) + ‎-s → ‎aus (“honest”)

   ‎ilu (“beauty”) + ‎-s → ‎ilus (“beautiful”)

   ‎lõbu (“pleasure”) + ‎-s → ‎lõbus (“fun”)

From Proto-Finnic *-nci.

-s (genitive -nda, partitive -ndat)

1. forms ordinal numbers from cardinal numbers

   ‎kolm (“three”) + ‎-s → ‎kolmas (“third”)

   ‎kuus (“six”) + ‎-s → ‎kuues (“sixth”)

Contracted from the second-person singular pronoun sa, sä (sinä in modern standard language), but no longer tied to being used in second-person.

-s (enclitic particle, somewhat informal or familiar)

1. When appended to a second-person singular or plural imperative, gives the command or request slightly rude or impatient tone—often with different verbs and different independent particles adjacent, the tone is different.

   Kuules nyt! (addressing one person. quite an established expression of frustration, speaker very impatient) ― Now do listen!

   Kuulkaas nyt! (addressing many people, same tone as above) ― Now do listen!

   Tees nämä tehtävät. (addressing one person, tone less impatient) ― Go do these tasks.

2. When appended to the particle -pa/-pä that is appended to a second-person imperative, gives the command or request a slightly more persuasive or inspiring tone.

   Laitapas lautaset pöytään. ― Hey, go put the plates on the table.

3. Mainly in informal contexts: a particle appended to an interrogative suffix -ko/-kö of the verb conjugated in order to bring the conversation partner or a person outside the conversation, talked about, emotionally closer to the speaker, or to create familiarity into the conversation; also to express that closeness or familiarity—sometimes very difficult to translate well into English, in some cases corresponds to tag questions.

   Jaksatkos sinä? ― May you make it maybe?

   Eikös Saara opiskele oikeustieteitä? ― Saara studies law, nuh?

4. (colloquial) appended to the shortened impersonal indicative present form (-n omitted) to soften the command or request or to make it more persuasive.

   Tehdääs tämä huomenna. ― Let's go do this tomorrow.

5. Softens interrogative words, particularly mikä, kuka and their inflected and derived forms, such as when the speaker expects the person addressed to know the answer.

   Mikäs se Suomen pääkaupunki olikaan?

   What was Finland's capital again?

   Kukas heistä olikaan sinun lapsesi?

   Which of them was your child again?

• When attached to imperative forms, the gemination is ignored, unless another enclitic is also used before -s, like with -pas. Thus laitas /lɑi̯tɑs/, but laitapas /lɑi̯tɑpːɑs/.
• When directly attached to forms ending in -n (e.g. passive forms), the -n is often dropped (e.g. miten → mites).

• -kin
• -kaan / -kään
• -han / -hän
• -ko / -kö
• -pa / -pä

From Proto-Finnic *-s, from Proto-Finno-Permic *-kse (compare Erzya and Moksha -кс (-ks, nominalizing suffix)).

-s

1. Forms some nouns.

   ‎jalka (“foot”) + ‎-s → ‎jalas (“runner, skid”)

   ‎liha (“meat”) + ‎-s → ‎lihas (“muscle”)

2. Forms fractional numbers from ordinal numbers.

   ‎kolmas + ‎-s → ‎kolmannes

• (fraction): Usually used when the numerator is one (one third, one fourth, etc.) See the usage notes under osa for more.

Back vowel harmony:

Front vowel harmony:

From Proto-Finnic *-nci, from Proto-Uralic *-mte.

-s

1. Forms ordinal numbers from cardinal numbers, or ordinal pronouns.

   ‎moni + ‎-s → ‎mones

Added to the genitive singular (weak grade) stem.

Back vowel harmony:

Front vowel harmony:

From Proto-Finnic *-s, from Proto-Uralic *-s (compare Erzya -с (-s) in эйс (ejs, “into”)). Sometimes considered a reduction of *-kse (translative ending): *-kse > *-ks > *-s.

-s

1. Forms lative adverbs.

   ‎ala- (“below, down, lower”) + ‎-s → ‎alas (“down”)

From apocope of the final vowel of -ssa, -ssä.

-s

1. (case suffix, colloquial or dialectal) Alternative form of -ssa (inessive)

Inherited from Middle French -s, from Old French -s, from Latin -os, -es (accusative plural).

• Silent, except in liaison environments, when it may be pronounced /z‿/. This liaison is usual in adjectives, but fairly rare in nouns.
• Irregularly pronounced /s/ in tous (“all”) when used as a pronoun.

• Audio (liaison)

  (file)

-s

1. Used to form the regular plurals of most nouns and adjectives.

   ‎homme + ‎-s → ‎hommes

   ‎bon + ‎-s → ‎bons

2. Used to form the irregular plurals of a few nouns and adjectives in -au, -eu (which regularly add -x) and in -al (which regularly make -aux).

   ‎landau + ‎-s → ‎landaus

   ‎bleu + ‎-s → ‎bleus

   ‎carnaval + ‎-s → ‎carnavals

Inherited from Middle French -s, from Old French -s, from Latin -es, -is (second-person singular).

The spread of this suffix to the first-person singular started out from Old French verbs whose stems happened to end in a sibilant, most notably the regular conjugation in -ir, e.g. je fenis, tu fenis (from Vulgar Latin fin-isc-o, fin-isc-is). In later Old French, final /s/ was only pronounced in liaison and in pausa. This weakened the distinction in those verbs which had originally had -s in the second-person only, but by analogy now began to take it in the first-person as well. The grammarians later on standardised the usage, prescribing -s in some cases and rejecting it in others.

• Silent, except in liaison environments, when it may be pronounced /z‿/. This liaison is optional after full vowels (as in tu dois). After silent -e- (as in tu aimes) it is rare and often discouraged.

-s

1. Used to form the second-person singular of most verb conjugations.
2. Used to form the first-person singular of some verb conjugations.

• -x

From Middle High German -es, from Old High German [Term?].

• -es
• -ens (proper nouns ending with a sibilant consonant; dated)
• -' (proper nouns ending with a sibilant consonant)
• -'s (common nouns; now proscribed)
• -'s (proper nouns; correct in certain cases, but often seen as a misspelling)

-s

1. Used to form the genitive singular of most masculine nouns, neuter nouns, and proper nouns of all genders.

The formation of the strong genitive singular (in -s, -es, or no ending) may be of some difficulty both for learners and native speakers.

Only one form is possible in some nouns:

• Nouns in unstressed -as, -es,- is, -os, -us remain unchanged (except those in -nis, which make -nisses).
• Other nouns in -s, -ß, -x, -z take -es.
• Nouns ending in a vowel or in unstressed -el, -em, -en, -er, -or, -um take -s. (Only those in a diphthong or in -h allow -es, alternatively.)
• Nouns forming their plural in -s take the same ending also in the genitive singular. (Apparent exceptions will generally have an alternative plural in -e.)

Otherwise, both forms are usually correct, but certain tendencies can be observed:

• The es-form is strongly preferred in a number of frequently used monosyllables, to the degree that the s-form may even sound odd. No hard rule can be given to identify these nouns; they include e.g. Land, Mann, Weg, etc.
• The es-form is also preferred, for euphonic reasons, in words ending in certain clusters like -pf, -sch, -st.
• Most other monosyllables have no clear preference.
• The s-form is usually preferred in polysyllables, regardless of their being simple or compound and regardless also of stress patterns.

Note, finally, that there is a fairly strong tendency for proper nouns (used with the article) and for newer or less common loanwords to remain unchanged in the genitive singular.

Probably derived from the genitive -s (etymology 1), but developed into a noun-forming suffix in German Low German and Central German dialects.

-s m

1. used to form nouns from verb stems

   ‎klacken + ‎-s → ‎Klacks

   ‎schnappen + ‎-s → ‎Schnaps

Borrowed from Middle Low German [Term?]. Reinforced by the fact that French and English also use -s as a plural suffix.

• -'s (now proscribed)
• -ens (family names ending with a sibilant consonant)

-s

1. Used to form the plurals of some nouns.
2. Used to form the plurals of personal names, particularly family names.

• The plural ending -s is most typical of loanwords (as in Schals, Parfüms, Videos), though there is a tendency for naturalised loanwords to switch to -e or -en (compare Generäle, Lifte, Pizzen with older Generals, Lifts, Pizzas). Conversely, -s is also used in a certain number of native words (as in Fräuleins, Mädels, Uhus). Moreover, it is the most productive plural marker in contemporary German, typically used to pluralise initialisms (LKWs), neologisms (Honks), and words that do not otherwise have a common plural form (Streits).

• -s-

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): [ʃ]

• Audio

  (file)

-s

1. (adjective-forming suffix) Added to a noun to form an adjective meaning "having something, a quality"; sometimes referred to as ornative.

   ‎só (“salt”) + ‎-s → ‎sós (“salty”)

2. (noun-forming suffix) Added to a noun to form an occupation or a collective noun.

   ‎hajó (“ship”) + ‎-s → ‎hajós (“sailor”)

3. (number-forming suffix) Added to a cardinal number to form a digit or figure, cf. the relevant template.

   ‎nulla (“zero”) + ‎-s → ‎nullás (“the digit or figure 0”)

• (all senses) Variants:

  -s is added to words ending in a vowel. Final -a changes to -á-. Final -e changes to -é-.

  -os is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant

  -as is added to other back-vowel words ending in a consonant

  -es is added to unrounded (and some rounded) front-vowel words ending in a consonant

  -ös is added to most rounded front-vowel words ending in a consonant

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

From Proto-Finnic *-ssa. Cognates include Finnish -ssa and Estonian -s.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /-sːɑ/, [-s̠ːɑ], /-sːæ/, [-s̠ːæ]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /-s/, [-ʃ]

-s

1. Used to form the inessive case; in, inside

• May trigger vowel elongation of the preceding vowel.

From Proto-Finnic *-nci, from Proto-Uralic *-mte. Cognates include Finnish -s and Estonian -s.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /-s/, [-s̠]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /-s/, [-ʃ]

-s

1. Used to form ordinal numbers from cardinal numbers; -th

From Proto-Finnic *-ci, from Proto-Uralic *-ti. Cognates include Finnish -si.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /-s/, [-s̠]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /-s/, [-ʃ]

-s

1. (obsolete) Used to mark the possession of the second person singular; thy, your
   • 1936, D. I. Efimov, Lukukirja: Inkeroisia alkușkouluja vart (ensimäine osa), Leningrad: Riikin Ucebno-pedagogiceskoi Izdateljstva, page 7:

     Niin mamallees i saoki.

     Just say so to your mother.

• May trigger vowel elongation of the preceding vowel.

From Proto-Finnic *-s. Cognates include Finnish -s.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /-s/, [-s̠]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /-s/, [-ʃ]

-s

1. (non-productive) Used to form nouns from other nouns

   ‎ohja (“rein”) + ‎-s → ‎ohjas (“rein”)