Write plural form of the word wife

What Is the Plural Form for Wife?

The first thing to do when learning about a word is to define it. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines the word wife as “a woman acting in a specific capacity, or a female partner in a marriage.” The correct plural form for the word wife is wives (pronounced waɪvz). Although is you are speaking about something that belongs to your wife, the correct word to use would be “wife’s.” If you are talking about more than one wife’s possession, it would be wives’. 

Why Is the Plural of Wife Wives?

The English language has a lot of strange rules, especially when it comes to plural nouns. Most singular nouns, when pluralized, add an “s” to the end. But nouns ending in “y” when its a consonant get a “ies” ending. As for the singular form wife, it doesn’t actually follow any rule. You just have to memorize that some words that end with “f” or “fe” get changed to “ves.” 

But this does not apply to all words like wife. For example, the word dwarf turns into dwarfs. However, the English author J.R.R Tolkien popularized the word “dwarves.” This spelling is appropriate when referring to fictional characters. For more information on this, refer to his The Lord of the Rings series. 

Which Is Correct: Wife’s or Wives?

The answer to this is both. Depending on the context, you can use either. The singular possessive of the word wife is wife’s. However, the plural of the word wife is wives. For example, if you were talking about “your wife’s shoes.” If you had more than one wife (as in polygamy), it would be “your wives’ shoes.” 

It may be difficult to keep track of all of these forms, but the more you practice, the easier it will get. 

Is Wifes a Word?

The word “wifes” does not exist without an apostrophe making it possessive. However, it is a valid Scrabbles word. If you want to use the plural form of wife, it would be wives. It is a bit confusing that the word “wifes” exists, but it is not the proper spelling of more than one wife in English. This is because of English’s strange rules/non-rules. 

The History and Origin of the Word

To get a better understanding of the word wife, let’s look at the history of the word and where it came from. According to the etymology, the word comes from a Germanic origin known as “wībam” or “woman.” In Old English, it took on the form of “wif.” The original meaning of wife did not concern marriage or a husband. 

A woman on her wedding day is referred to as a bride, but after the wedding is called a wife. 

In many cultures and traditionally, a wife is associated with motherhood and bearing children for the family. On the other hand, it is frowned upon in many cultures for a woman to have a child when she is not a wife. Of course, in America today, things are very different, and single mothers are widely accepted and normalized. 

There a few other forms of the word wife such as “midwife” and “wives’ tale.” A midwife refers to a woman who assists in childbirth, originating in the 1300s. An “old wives’ tale is another word for an urban legend that is passed down through generations.  

Although English often takes notes from other languages when it comes to words like this, the English wife is quite different from the Spanish esposa, the Italian moglie, the Swedish fru, or the German ehefrau. 

Examples of the Word in Context

Seeing a word being used correctly can give you more confidence when using it. That is why example sentences can be helpful for people. Here are some examples of the word wife/wives.

• My wife is coming back from her trip today.
• Do you want to get the wives together for a potluck dinner?
• What is your wife’s maiden name?
• I really want to propose to my girlfriend and make her my wife. 
• What does your wife’s hometown look like in New York?

There are also many idioms associated with the word, like “Happy wife, happy life,” as married men often say. 

Since there a technically three forms of this word, it is important to differentiate between them when using the word wife. 

Synonyms for Wife

Another helpful way to understand a word better is to look at other words with similar definitions. This is where a thesaurus comes in handy. 

While the word wife is the most technical term for a married woman, there are several other more vague ways to say it:

Spouse: ”a husband or wife, considered in relation to their partner.”

Partner: “either member of a married couple of an established unmarried couple.”

Mate: “a fellow member or joint occupant of a specified thing.”

These words mean almost the same thing as the word wife, except they are not gender-specific. A spouse, partner, or mate can refer to a male of a female in the relationship. 

In Summary

The word wife has been around for a long time in the English language. It has formed different connotations and can be used both negatively and positively. Of course, a happy marriage usually involves positively talking about your wife!

At the end of the day, the way that you talk about either one wife or multiple wives depends entirely on context and the environment.  Hopefully, this article leaves you feeling more prepared for any encounter!

Sources:

1.https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wife#learn-more
2.https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=wife
3.https://www.wordreference.com/definition/wives
4.https://thewordcounter.com/when-should-i-use-a-hyphen/
5.https://thewordcounter.com/blog-because-comma/
6.https://thewordcounter.com/has-vs-have/

Сервис Спряжение и склонение позволяет вам спрягать глаголы и склонять существительные, прилагательные, местоимения и числительные. Здесь можно узнать род и склонение существительных, прилагательных и числительных, степени сравнения прилагательных, спряжение глаголов, посмотреть таблицы времен для английского, немецкого, русского, французского, итальянского, португальского и испанского. Спрягайте глаголы, изучайте правила спряжения и склонения, смотрите переводы в контекстных примерах и словаре.

жена, женщина

существительное ↓

Словосочетания

a man accused of beating his wife — мужчина, которого обвиняют в избиении жены  
a little man obedient to his wife — маленький человек, послушный своей жене  
to deceive one’s wife — изменять жене  
disloyal wife — неверная жена  
wife’s equity — права жены  
untrue to one’s wife — неверный своей жене, изменяющий своей жене  
possessive wife — жена-собственница  
old-wife — старуха  
ex-wife — бывшая жена  
take to wife — взять в жёны  
good wife — хорошая жена  
office wife — секретарша-любовница  

Примеры с переводом

Примеры, ожидающие перевода

Возможные однокоренные слова

wifeless  — холостой, овдовевший
wifely  — подобающий жене, свойственный жене
wifelike  — подобающий жене
wifehood  — замужество, положение замужней женщины, супружеские добродетели

Формы слова

noun
ед. ч.(singular): wife
мн. ч.(plural): wives

• Abkhaz: аҳәса (aḥʷsa), аԥҳәыс (apḥʷəs)
• Afrikaans: vrou (af)
• Ainu: マチ (maci)
• Aiton: please add this translation if you can
• Akkadian: 𒁮 f (aššatu)
• Albanian: grua (sq) f
• Alviri-Vidari: (Vidari) زینه‎ (zine)
• Ambonese Malay: maitua
• Amharic: ሚስት (am) (mist)
• Arabic: زَوْجَة‎ f (zawja), اِمْرَأَة‎ (ar) f (imraʔa)

  Egyptian Arabic: زوجَة‎ f (zōga), مرات‎ f (merāt)

  Hijazi Arabic: زُوجَة‎ f (zōja)

• Armenian: կին (hy) (kin)
• Aromanian: ãnveastã f, sutsãlji, nicuchirã f
• Assamese: ঘৈণী (ghoini), পত্নী (potni)
• Asturian: muyer (ast) f, esposa (ast) f
• Avar: лъади class second (lˢadi)
• Azerbaijani: arvad (az), zövcə, əyal (archaic)
• Bashkir: ҡатын (qatın)
• Basque: emazte (eu)
• Bats: ფსტუ (psṭu)
• Belarusian: жо́нка f (žónka)
• Bengali: বিবি (bn) (bibi), বেগম (bn) (begom), বউ (bn) (bou), আহলিয়া (bn) (alhiẏa), আওরত (bn) (aōrot), জরু (bn) (joru), স্ত্রী (bn) (stri), পত্নী (bn) (potni)
• Betawi: bini
• Breton: gwreg (br) f
• Bulgarian: жена́ (bg) f (žená), съпру́га (bg) f (sǎprúga)
• Burmese: မယား (my) (ma.ya:), ဇနီး (my) (ja.ni:) (formal)
• Buryat: һамган (hamgan)
• Catalan: dona (ca) f, muller (ca) f
• Chakma: please add this translation if you can
• Chechen: зуда (zuda)
• Chickasaw: imihoo
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 妻子 (cai¹ zi²) (formal), 老婆 (lou⁵ po⁴), 太太 (taai³ taai^3-2) (polite)

  Dungan: чижын (čiřɨn), чи (či), пәе (pəi͡ə)

  Hakka: 餔娘／𫗦娘 (pû-ngiòng), 太太 (thai-thai), 老姐 (ló-chiá)

  Mandarin: 妻子 (zh) (qīzi), 老婆 (zh) (lǎopo) (colloquial), 愛人／爱人 (zh) (àiren) (PRC, husband or wife), 太太 (zh) (tàitai) (polite), 內人／内人 (zh) (nèirén) (literary, humble)

  Min Nan: 某 (zh-min-nan) (bóo), 某囝 (zh-min-nan) (bó͘-kiáⁿ), 家後／家后 (zh-min-nan) (ke-āu), 牽手／牵手 (zh-min-nan) (khan-chhiú), 牽的／牵的 (khan—ê), 太太 (zh-min-nan) (thài-thài), 查某人 (zh-min-nan) (cha-bó͘-lâng)

  Teochew: 某 (zh-min-nan) (bhou²), 老婆 (lao⁶ pua⁵)

• Chukchi: ӈэвъэн (ṇėvʺėn)
• Coptic:

  Bohairic: ⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ f (shime)

  Sahidic: ϩⲓⲙⲉ f (hime)

• Cornish: gwreg
• Crimean Tatar: apaqay f, apay f
• Czech: manželka (cs) f, žena (cs) f, choť (cs) f
• Dalmatian: mojer f, molier f, mulir m
• Danish: hustru (da) c, kone (da) c, frue (da) c
• Dutch: vrouw (nl) f, echtgenote (nl) f
• Eastern Cham: ꨨꨕꨳꨪꩇ (hadi`ip)
• Egyptian: (ḥmt f), (ḥbsyt f), (snt f)
• Erzya: ни (ńi)
• Esperanto: edzino (eo)
• Estonian: naine (et)
• Evenki: аси (asi)
• Faliscan: uxo
• Faroese: kona (fo) f, vív n
• Finnish: vaimo (fi), aviovaimo (fi)
• French: femme (fr) f, épouse (fr) f
• Friulian: femine f, muîr f, cristiane f
• Galician: esposa (gl) f, muller (gl) f, dona f
• Georgian: ცოლი (coli)
• German: Ehefrau (de) f, Frau (de) f, Eheweib (de) n, Weib (de) n, Gemahlin (de) f, Gattin (de) f
• Gothic: 𐌵𐌴𐌽𐍃 f (qēns)
• Greek: σύζυγος (el) f (sýzygos), γυναίκα (el) f (gynaíka), συμβία (el) f (symvía)

  Ancient: γαμετή f (gametḗ), δάμαρ f (dámar), ὄαρ f (óar) (Epic)

• Greenlandic: nuliaq
• Guaraní: embireko (t-)
• Gujarati: પત્ની f (patnī)
• Hausa: matar aure
• Hawaiian: wahine
• Hebrew: אִשָּׁה‎ (he) f (ishá), בַּת זוּג‎ (he) f (bat zúg)
• Higaonon: asawa
• Hindi: पत्नी (hi) f (patnī), बीवी (hi) f (bīvī), गृहणी (hi) f (gŕhṇī), भार्या (hi) f (bhāryā), वल्लभा (hi) f (vallabhā), वधू (hi) f (vadhū), स्त्री (hi) f (strī), गृहिणी (hi) f (gŕhiṇī), जाया (hi) f (jāyā), जनि (hi) f (jani), जन (hi) f (jan), जौजा (hi) f (jaujā), जोरू (hi) f (jorū), घरवाली (hi) f (gharvālī)
• Hungarian: asszony (hu), feleség (hu)
• Icelandic: eiginkona (is) f, kona (is) f
• Ido: spozino (io)
• Indonesian: istri (id)
• Ingush: цӏен-нана (cʼen-nana), сесаг (sesag)
• Interlingua: sponsa, sposa, uxor
• Irish: bean (ga) f, bean chéile f

  Old Irish: ben f, séitig f

• Istriot: muier f
• Italian: sposa (it) f, moglie (it) f
• Japanese: 妻 (ja) (つま, tsuma), 家内 (ja) (かない, kanai) (only for speaker’s), ワイフ (waifu), 奥さん (おくさん, okusan) (traditionally except for speaker’s), 奥様 (おくさま, okusama) (except for speaker’s, honorific), 夫人 (ja) (ふじん, fujin) (humble), ご夫人 (ごふじん, go-fujin) (honorific)
• Javanese: rabi, bojo wadon, garwa putri
• Kaingang: mré nĩ fi
• Kamba: kiveti
• Kannada: ಪತ್ನಿ (kn) (patni)
• Karachay-Balkar: юй бийче (yuy biyçe), юйдеги (yuydegi), къатын (qatın)
• Kashmiri: آشَنؠ‎‎ (āśan’), آشێنؠ‎‎ (āśen’), کۄلَے‎‎‎ (kọlaē‎‎), خانہٕ دارێنؠ‎‎ (xānụdāren’), رٔنؠ‎‎‎ (rạn’), زَنان‎‎‎ (zanān‎‎), گَرواجیٚنؠ‎‎‎ (garvājen’)
• Kazakh: әйел (kk) (äiel), жар (jar), қатын (qatyn)
• Khamti: please add this translation if you can
• Khmer: ប្រពន្ធ (km) (prɑpŭən), ភរិយា (km) (phĕəʼriyiə), ឃរណី (km) (khɔnəy)
• Kikuyu: mũka class 1, mũtumia class 1
• Korean: 아내 (ko) (anae) (humble), 집사람 (ko) (jipsaram) (humble), 안사람 (ko) (ansaram) (humble), 안해 (ko) (anhae) (North Korea, humble), 마누라 (ko) (manura) (humble), 와이프 (waipeu) (humble, colloquial, South Korea), 부인(夫人) (ko) (bu’in) (honorific)
• Krio: wef
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ژن‎ (ckb) (jin), خێزان‎ (ckb) (xêzan)

  Northern Kurdish: jin (ku), kebanî (ku), xanim (ku)

• Kyrgyz: аял (ky) (ayal), катын (katın)
• Ladin:

  gherdëina: fëna f

  badiot: fomena f

  fascian: fémena f

• Lao: ເມຍ (mīa), ພັນລະຍາ (phan la nyā), ບໍລິຈາ (bǭ li chā), ປັດຕະນິ (pat ta ni), ປະລິຈາລິກາ (pa li chā li kā), ຊານິກາ (sā ni kā) (royal), ຊາຍາ (sā nyā)
• Latgalian: sīva f
• Latin: uxor (la) f, nupta f, femina (la) f, mulier (la) f, marita f, coniunx (la) f
• Latvian: sieva, dzīvesbiedre f, dzīvesbiedrene f
• Laz: ჩილი (çili)
• Lithuanian: pati (lt) f, žmona (lt) f
• Lolopo: maerssor
• Lombard: miee (lmo) f
• Louisiana Creole French: fenm, épouz
• Low German:

  German Low German: Ehfro f, Fro (nds) f, Ehfru f, Fru (nds) f

• Luganda: mukyala wange
• Luhya: omkhasi
• Lycian: 𐊍𐊀𐊅𐊀 (lada)
• Lü: ᦵᦙ (me)
• Macedonian: же́на (mk) f (žéna), со́пруга f (sópruga)
• Malagasy: andefimandry (mg), tokantrano (mg)
• Malay: isteri (ms), bini (ms)
• Malayalam: ഭാര്യ (ml) (bhārya), പത്നി (ml) f (patni)
• Maltese: mara (mt) f
• Manchu: ᠰᠠᡵᡤᠠᠨ (sargan)
• Manx: ben-phoost
• Maori: hoa wahine, wahine (mi), hoa rangatira
• Maranao: lilang
• Marathi: नवरी f (navrī)
• Mbyá Guaraní: embireko, a’yxy
• Megleno-Romanian: niveastă f
• Mingrelian: ოსური (osuri), ჩილი (čili)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: гэргий (mn) (gergii), эхнэр (mn) (exner)

• Mwani: muka
• Nanai: аси
• Navajo: hweʼesdzáán
• Neapolitan: mugliera f
• Nepali: पत्नी (patnī)
• Norman: faume f (Guernsey), bouônnefemme f (Jersey)
• Northern Ohlone: háw̄a
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hustru m or f, kone (no) m or f, frue (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: hustru f, kone f, frue f

• Occitan: femna (oc) f
• Ojibwe: niwiidigemaagan
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: жена f (žena)

  Glagolitic: ⰶⰵⱀⰰ f (žena)

• Old East Slavic: жена f (žena)
• Old English: wīf n
• Old French: fame f, fam f
• Oriya: ସ୍ତ୍ରୀ (stri)
• Oromo: niitii
• Ossetian: бинойнаг (binojnag), ус (us)
• Pa’o Karen: မာ
• Pashto: ښځه‎ (ps) f (ӽᶕja), زوجه‎ (ps) f (zawǰá), ورتينه‎ f (wərtiná)
• Persian: زن‎ (fa) (zan), زوجه‎ (fa) (zowje)
• Phake: please add this translation if you can
• Plautdietsch: Wief (nds) f
• Polish: żona (pl) f, małżonka (pl) f
• Portuguese: esposa (pt) f, mulher (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਪਤਨੀ (patnī)
• Rohingya: bou
• Romagnol: mój f, mujéṟ f
• Romani: rromni f
• Romanian: soție (ro) f, nevastă (ro) f, muiere (ro)
• Romansch: dunna f, duonna f, cunsorta f, duna f, donna f
• Russian: жена́ (ru) f (žená), супру́га (ru) f (suprúga), жёнка (ru) f (žónka) (colloquial or regional)
• Rusyn: жона́ f (žoná), жена́ f (žená), ма́нжелка f (mánželka)
• S’gaw Karen: မါ (mah)
• Sanskrit: पत्नी (sa) f (patnī), भार्या (sa) f (bhāryā), दयिता (sa) f (dayitā), जाया (sa) f (jāyā), वल्लभा (sa) f (vallabhā)
• Santali: ᱨᱤᱱᱤᱡ (rinic’), ᱮᱨᱚ (erô)
• Sardinian: mugere f, mullei f, mulleri f, mutzere f, muzere f
• Scots: guidwife
• Scottish Gaelic: bean-chèile f, bean-phòsda (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: жѐна f, су̏пруга f

  Roman: žèna (sh) f, sȕpruga (sh) f

• Sichuan Yi: ꀋꃀꀉꑳ (ap mop ax yi)
• Sicilian: mugghieri (scn) f
• Sinhalese: බිරිඳ (biriⁿda), භාර්යාව (bhāryāwa), පවුල (pawula)
• Slovak: manželka (sk) f, žena (sk) f
• Slovene: žéna (sl) f, soproga f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: žeńska f, žona f

  Upper Sorbian: žona (hsb) f

• Spanish: esposa (es) f, mujer (es) f
• Sundanese: garwa, bojo, pamajikan
• Svan: ხეხუ̂ (xexû)
• Swahili: mke (sw) (1/2)
• Swedish: hustru (sv), maka (sv), fru (sv)
• Tabasaran: хпиб (ꭓpib)
• Tagalog: esposa (tl), babaeng asawa
• Tai Dam: ꪣꪸ
• Tai Nüa: please add this translation if you can
• Tajik: зан (tg) (zan), завҷа (zavja)
• Talysh: (Asalemi) ژن‎ (žen)
• Tamil: மனைவி (ta) (maṉaivi), பெண்டாட்டி (ta) (peṇṭāṭṭi)
• Taos: łȉwéna
• Tarantino: mugghìere f
• Tatar: хатын (tt) (xatın)
• Tausug: asawa
• Telugu: పెళ్ళాం (te) (peḷḷāṁ), భార్య (te) (bhārya), ఆలి (te) (āli)
• Tetum: feen
• Thai: ภริยา (th) (pá-rí-yaa), ภรรยา (th) (pan-yaa), เมีย (th) (miia) (may sound impolite)
• Tibetan: སྐྱེ་དམན (skye dman)
• Tigrinya: ሰበይቲ (säbäyti), ብዓልቲ ቤት (bəʿalti bet)
• Tocharian A: śäṃ
• Tocharian B: śana
• Tupinambá: emirekó (t-)
• Turkish: karı (tr), avrat (tr)
• Turkmen: aýal (tk)
• Tuvan: кадай (kaday)
• Ugaritic: 𐎀𐎘𐎚 (ảṯt)
• Ukrainian: дружи́на (uk) f (družýna), жі́нка (uk) f (žínka) (colloquial), супру́га f (suprúha)
• Urdu: بیوی‎ f (bīvī), پتنی‎ f (patnī)
• Uyghur: خوتۇن‎ (xotun)
• Uzbek: xotin (uz)
• Venetian: mojer f, mojere f
• Vietnamese: vợ (vi)
• Volapük: jimatan (vo)
• Walloon: feme (wa) f
• Welsh: gwraig (cy) f, gwragedd (cy) f pl
• West Frisian: wiif (fy), frou (fy)
• White Hmong: pojniam
• Wolof: jabar ji, iyawo
• Yakut: ойох (oyoq), кэргэн (kergen)
• Yiddish: ווײַב‎ n (vayb) or f, פֿרוי‎ f (froy)
• Yoruba: iyawo
• Yucatec Maya: atan
• Yámana: tuku
• Zazaki: pir (diq), cınék, xatun, khatun
• Zealandic: vrouwe f, wuuf n
• Zhuang: baz, yah
• Zulu: umka- class 1a/2a, inkosikazi (zu) class 9/6, unkosikazi class 1a/2a
• ǃXóõ: tâa qáe