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"The fish's pond"? "The fishes' pond"? That's a pond belonging to a single fish ("The fish's pond") versus one belonging to multiple fish ("The fishes' pond").
by matthewmacleod 11y ago
"The fish's pond"? "The fishes' pond"?
That's a pond belonging to a single fish ("The fish's pond") versus one belonging to multiple fish ("The fishes' pond"). You're completely right!
- coldpie 11y agoIt's hard because the plural form of "fish" is usually "fish." I think we allow "fishes" when "fish" is ambiguous, like my example. Maybe we should just change to "fishes" all the time :)
- alex_young 11y agoDeep in the weeds here, but the plural of a single species of fish is 'fish', while multiple species of fish are 'fishes'. 'Swimming with the fishes' means you must have wound up on the wrong side of a boat in a diverse body of water. It would be a shame to have to 'swim with the fish'. So ambiguous.
- coldpie 11y agoLearn something new every day :)
- js2 11y agoThe plural "fish" is more than one fish of the same species. The plural "fishes" is multiple species. At least biologists make that distinction. edit: what Alex Young said.
- csn 11y ago"Fishes" is the word used to describe different species of fish. Edit: late for the party. "Deeres" and "sheepes" follow the same pattern, I presume.