5 ms·
> the dices "The dice". Single "die", plural "dice".
by scoot 5y ago
> the dices
"The dice". Single "die", plural "dice".
- BiteCode_dev 5y agoFrench here. Thank you.
- austinjp 5y agoJust to further complicate things.... native English speakers often use "dice" as the singular i.e. instead of "die". While technically incorrect, it's very common, probably more common than the "correct' form. The plural is "dice" and unfortunately "dices" is definitely incorrect :-) English is crazy.
- shibbidybop 5y agoI’ve even heard people use “die” as both the singular and plural! It’s the only singular/plural pair I know of where 3 of the 4 permutations show up in common parlance. I’ll be thrilled if I ever hear someone use dice as sing. and die as pl.
- debo_ 5y agoSome constructs in English can indeed feel a bit dicey.
- tclancy 5y agoAh, you pipped me to it.
- dredmorbius 5y agoThe plural of inconsistency: https://diaspora.glasswings.com/posts/897e437031880139f099002590d8e506 https://diaspora.glasswings.com/posts/897e437031880139f09900...
- tasogare 5y agoMouse, mice therefore singular of dice is douse!
- 4cao 5y agoI think the word itself is from French too (although I don't know what the explanation for the strange plural form is).
- layer8 5y agoFrom the OED: "As in pence, the plural s retains its original breath sound, probably because these words were not felt as ordinary plurals, but as collective words". Here is another interesting article about the etymology and singular/plural usage: https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2016/10/dice.html https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2016/10/dice.html
- lovemenot 5y agoDoesn't the word dies connote exactly two dies? Then with three or more it becomes dice.
- leephillips 5y agoNo.
- samatman 5y agoThe pair-of-dice / paradise pun would be burned into your brain if you spent more time with bikers.
- remram 5y agoI don't think English has any plural form for >=3.
- 8bitsrule 5y agoA pair of dies is dice! But then what does 'pair of dice' mean? Which brings us to another problem: I can buy a new pair of pants - or even 'some new pants' - but I've never seen 'a pant' for sale !! ;-)