What is the plural of email?

[Bob]

If is just email or is it emails?


I need an authoritative source to back that up too.


You have a stack of mail. 

You receive mailings.  Do you receiveing emailings?


Would you say...
Look at all this email?
or..
Looks at all these emails?

Or are both correct?  (and no one really knows because it's too soon, or the English geeks made some statement that no one listens to anyway...)

And what's that sizzling sound? 

[keypeg]

You receive lots of e-mail.  You have received 5 e-mail items; 5 items of e-mail.  You should visit the translator discussion forum and submit your question to the terminology section.   This kind of stuff gets hammered to death in utter seriousness - it's scary!

My absolute favourite was getting meaning out of an historical statement in an interview from the 1800's "He's the sort of man who marches in a cloud of pipe dust." with the heading "What might 'cloud of pipe dust' signify?"  Fascinating!

[lucylucy]

well i think it's emails. with an "s". each word in plural has an "s". why not "email" ?

[Kassaa]

well i think it's emails. with an "s". each word in plural has an "s". why not "email" ?

You're like the baddestestestest person to give advice on this subject.

Womans *rolls eyes*

[keypeg]

well i think it's emails. with an "s". each word in plural has an "s". why not "email" ?

What is the plural of cattle?  What is the plural of beef?  What is the plural of stuff?  What is the plural of kiss?  No, in English not every plural noun has an S.  English is an illogical language with breaks many rules.

Your language, on the other hand, has different endings for plurals, depending on the form of the noun, but the rules never change: eaux, beaux, chapeaux, tables, arbres, etc.

But even you have words that have no plural form.  What is the plural of "la musique"?

[s_bussotti]

What is the plural of cattle?  What is the plural of beef?  What is the plural of stuff?  What is the plural of kiss?  No, in English not every plural noun has an S.  English is an illogical language with breaks many rules.

You are breaking our broken rules!

Cattle is not a singular noun; similar to "mice", it is a plural noun only.  "Beef" and "stuff" are also only plural, because they represent quantities, stuff being more straight-forward in that notion, and "beef" referencing a quantity/amount of a specific type of meat.  "Beef" can also represent a type of meat, so if one were interesting in saying "we carry five different varieties of beef", it still remains "beef" due to the lexicography of a properly formed sentence using it in this manner.  The plural of "kiss" is just "kisses".  You can not "get ten kiss".


The plural of e-mail is e-mail, Bob.  Mail carries the general connotation of "an amount of letters and packages", and is therefore plural, because "e-" is a bound morpheme (meaning a modifier), which means it can not change the meaning of the free morpheme/root, which is "mail".  Although, if you are abbreviating "e-mail address" to just "e-mail", then it becomes "e-mails" because the meaning of the word changes.  Words like these are a type of allomorph.


"Scissors" is the more fun one 

[Bob]

Yeah, I'm going to email.  "All this email."  That's still not right though.  That's still using it as a singular.

I have sifted through a lot of email.


I just need to put in something fancy and it shouldn't look odd and shouldn't be incorrect.

[s_bussotti]

Yeah, I'm going to email.  "All this email."  That's still not right though.  That's still using it as a singular.

I have sifted through a lot of email.


I just need to put in something fancy and it shouldn't look odd and shouldn't be incorrect.

Would you say, upon receiving many letters in the post, "Look, I have all of these mails!"?  Of course not.  It is e-mail.  With a hyphen, I might add, you being so concerned with the grammar and all.  Why would you even ask a question if you're going to argue when someone gives you the irrefutably correct answer?  Did you really want to know what the correct term was, or just hear yourself talk?  o.O

[Bob]

I'm not arguing.  I'm just trying to fiure it out.

I would say, "Look at all of these emails," though.  That's what made me wonder.

I want it correct and sounding correct too, not sounding grammar stilted but correct.  More conversationally correct.

[lucylucy]

What is the plural of cattle?  What is the plural of beef?  What is the plural of stuff?  What is the plural of kiss?  No, in English not every plural noun has an S.  English is an illogical language with breaks many rules.

Your language, on the other hand, has different endings for plurals, depending on the form of the noun, but the rules never change: eaux, beaux, chapeaux, tables, arbres, etc.

But even you have words that have no plural form.  What is the plural of "la musique"?

the plural of "la musique" is "les musiques" 
don't try to learn me french, you....just... CAN'T

[Bob]

Thank you lucy.    

Maybe I will try to learn French.  Just for spite.     Just due to this one post.  So it shall be.  But not right now.

[s_bussotti]

the plural of "la musique" is "les musiques" 
don't try to learn me french, you....just... CAN'T

Please, nobody try to learn her French

*Begins reading up on French, trying to learn myself some edumaction*

[lucylucy]

You're like the baddestestestest person to give advice on this subject.

Womans *rolls eyes*

??

[keypeg]

the plural of "la musique" is "les musiques" 
don't try to learn me french, you....just... CAN'T

Alors, tu dirais, par exemple, "On aime bien entendre les musiques de Ravel, Tchaikovski, et Brahms.  Lesquelles de ces musiques, penses-tu, serais les plus populaires?"  Ou comment utiliserais-tu une forme pluriel de "les musiques"?  Il me semble bien qu'on dit "la musique" dans l'exemple ci-haut, meme s'il s'agit de la musique de plusieurs personnes.**

Fyi, I was not trying to teach you French.  I was using an example out of your language to illustrate the regular structure of the French language as opposed to the irregular structure of the English language.

It would be wise for you to learn to distinguish a friendly communication from an unfriendly one.

You are right that I cannot teach you French.  That would be absurd.

** Translation: a query whether in French you would say "the musics of Ravel etc." or whether it would stay in the singular - or in what kind of context you would use a plural form.

[lucylucy]

Alors, tu dirais, par exemple, "On aime bien entendre les musiques de Ravel, Tchaikovski, et Brahms.  Lesquelles de ces musiques, penses-tu, serais les plus populaires?"  Ou comment utiliserais-tu une forme pluriel de "les musiques"?  Il me semble bien qu'on dit "la musique" dans l'exemple ci-haut, meme s'il s'agit de la musique de plusieurs personnes.**

Fyi, I was not trying to teach you French.  I was using an example out of your language to illustrate the regular structure of the French language as opposed to the irregular structure of the English language.

It would be wise for you to learn to distinguish a friendly communication from an unfriendly one.

You are right that I cannot teach you French.  That would be absurd.

** Translation: a query whether in French you would say "the musics of Ravel etc." or whether it would stay in the singular - or in what kind of context you would use a plural form.

Bah oui mais j'suis désolée ! "les musiques" ça se dit. Donc... limite t'as rien à dire.
Peut être qu'on emploie peu, le terme "les musiques" mais il existe. Et pourquoi tu me traduit ce que tu viens de dire...je parle français, pas besoin d'une quelconque traduction. A moins que ce ne soit pour les autres membres. Bref, encore une chose, je sais très bien distinguer une conversation sympathique d'une antipathique. Et en l'occurrence la tienne était quelque peu ambiguë. 

[keypeg]

moins que ce ne soit pour les autres membres.

Of course I translated for the other members.  I could go to my professional colleagues and we could discuss the plurality of "musiques" among the experts there but that's a bit "tirer par les cheveux".  I simply wanted to point out that not all words are pluralized and this seems to exist in most languages.  I resorted to French since that is your native language and one that I used on a professional basis.

Take care.

[thalbergmad]

The plural of e mail is spam.

Thal

[thierry13]

Alors, tu dirais, par exemple, "On aime bien entendre les musiques de Ravel, Tchaikovski, et Brahms.  Lesquelles de ces musiques, penses-tu, serais les plus populaires?"  Ou comment utiliserais-tu une forme pluriel de "les musiques"?  Il me semble bien qu'on dit "la musique" dans l'exemple ci-haut, meme s'il s'agit de la musique de plusieurs personnes.**

Fyi, I was not trying to teach you French.  I was using an example out of your language to illustrate the regular structure of the French language as opposed to the irregular structure of the English language.

It would be wise for you to learn to distinguish a friendly communication from an unfriendly one.

You are right that I cannot teach you French.  That would be absurd.

** Translation: a query whether in French you would say "the musics of Ravel etc." or whether it would stay in the singular - or in what kind of context you would use a plural form.

Les musiques can be used, but not in your example ( les musiques de ravel etc.). French is a bit more complex than english in certain regards like this one. It would be more likely in a sentence like : The musics of the world (different genres) rather than preceding an enumaration (the music of ravel, tchaikovsky, etc.)

[ahinton]

The plural of e mail is spam.

! - and the plural of spam is...(!)...

Anyway, the feminine of email is female.

Best,

Alistair

[keypeg]

Thanks, Thierry.  I had my doubts.  It's a bit like "peoples" which does exist.  Another one, btw, is mouse-mice, but "computer mouses"

[Bob]

Ok, today I heard a very knowledgable person say "emails."  That jumped right out at me. 

[mike_lang]

It's kind of like fish - plural can either be the same or "fishes."  If you have an indefinite amount of email, i.e. a "whole bunch of email," you can also have  a definite amount - "12 emails."

[keypeg]

It's kind of like fish - plural can either be the same or "fishes."  If you have an indefinite amount of email, i.e. a "whole bunch of email," you can also have  a definite amount - "12 emails."

I think you are right, and thus it is like mouse, mice, and computer mouses.  A new term has had its conventions established over time by usage.  You would never say "I got 12 mails" when you you refer to the paper stuff that the post office delivers.  You would say "I got 12 letters in the mail." or "I got 12 items of mail."  But you can say "I got 12 e-mails."

It's less of a frivolous question for me, because as a translator I have to stay on top of accepted terminology, and where what terminology is accepted by whom.  We debate these things endlessly.  Cheque or check?  Who will be reading this?  An American?  Canadian? British person?  If an American, British person, and Canadian will all be reading it, will you say "check" or "cheque"? etc.

[Bob]

I don't remember the exact wording but it was something like "I have a lot of emails to read," or, "I have a bunch of emails."  But it's just speech and if you say bunch it's probably not going to sound very academic anyway.

[keypeg]

But it's just speech and if you say bunch it's probably not going to sound very academic anyway.

I have been the unfortunate recipient of a plethora of electronic mail correspondence requiring appropriate action far exceeding my capacity for real time response within the usually acceptable time frame commensurate with such reception.  Howzat?

[Bob]

What's another word for correspondence?  That sounds too old. 

That is an idea though.  Stick another word behind it and that solves the problem. 

Email communication

Email message -  This one will work.