-s

• IPA^(key): /s/ (following a voiceless consonant)
• IPA^(key): /z/ (postvocalic or following a voiced consonant)
• IPA^(key): /ɨz/ (following a sibilant consonant /s, z, ʃ, ʒ, tʃ, dʒ/—usually written -es)
• Homophone: -'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-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) (note that German -er 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. Used to form a word referring to a specific decade in the Gregorian calendar. Appended to the first year of the decade.

   1970s, 1890s

• (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."
• (decade): 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. A notable exception to this arose after the end of the 2000s, when the (relatively uniform) pronunciation of the years in that decade as two-thousand (and) _____ was continued for the following decade for some speakers. The pronunciation of the 2010s as twenty-tens largely took over starting in 2010, but it has not completely stamped out the previous two-thousand (and) _____ pronunciation which, again, was uniform in the prior decade. It remains to be seen if this will continue into the 2020s. Of note is that, some speakers, when speaking retroactively about the 2000s, now apply the 2010s' common pronunciation to the 2000s as well. In other words, they would pronounce 2001 as twenty-oh-one instead of two-thousand (and) one.

• see Category:English noun plural forms

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

From Middle English -(e)s (third person singular ending of verbs), from Northumbrian Old English -es, -as (third person singular ending). Replaced historical Old English third person singular ending -(e)þ, -aþ (-eth). The falling together of the second and third person singular verb forms in Old English is believed to be due to North Germanic influence, where the employment of the same verbal endings for both 2nd and 3rd singular indicative follows a similar pattern to that seen in Old Norse (e.g. þú masar, hann masar; þú þekkir, hann þekkir; etc.). See -est.

-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.

see Category:English third-person singular forms

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)

-s

1. (on pronouns) Possessive marker, indicating that an object belongs to the word bearing the marker.
2. (on nouns, now nonstandard) Alternative form of -'s

• 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.

You can help Wiktionary by providing a proper etymology.

-s

1. Hypocoristic suffix

   Babs; moms; pops; homes; toots

-s

1. Used to form the genitive case of nouns.

   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.

-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 - bodems

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

   telefoon - 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 either 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-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”)

-s (genitive -sa, partitive -sat)

1. creates adjectives from nouns

   au "honour" → aus "honest"

   ilu "beauty" → ilus "beautiful"

   lõbu "pleasure" → lõbus "fun"

From Proto-Finnic *-nci.

-s (genitive -nda, partitive -ndat)

1. forms ordinal numbers from cardinal numbers

   kolm "three" → kolmas "third"

   kuus "six" → kuues "sixth"

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

-s

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

   mones

Added to the genitive singular (weak grade) stem.

Back vowel harmony:

Front vowel harmony:

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 (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)

   Now do listen! (with nyt, quite an established expression of frustration, speaker very impatient)

   Kuulkaas nyt! (addressing many persons or formally one person)

   Now do listen! (same tone as above)

   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 (also -kö with the negation verb) 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 the 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.

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

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

-s

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

From Middle French -s, from Old French -s, from Latin -s (accusative).

• Silent except in liaison environments, when it is pronounced IPA^(key): /z‿/

-s

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

   homme → hommes

   bon → 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 → landaus

   bleu → bleus

   carnaval - carnavals

• -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-

• IPA^(key): [ʃ]

• Audio

  (file)

-s

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

   só (“salt”) → sós (“salty”)

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

   hajó (“ship”) → hajós (“sailor”)

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

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

• (all senses) Harmonic 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 front vowel words ending in a consonant

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

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes

-s

1. Appended to relative/interrogative pronouns to form indefinite pronouns

• chtos

• -ish, -sh

-s

1. -self (emphatic)

• Added to prepositional pronouns (ending in a broad consonant) to add emphasis:
  • Used in first-person singular: (e.g., lhiams).
  • Used in second-person singular: (e.g., orts).

• -yn
• -syn

-s

1. Adverbial genitive ending, developed into the -ce at the end of some words

• English: hence, thence, whence

From Proto-Samic *-s.

-s

1. Forms nouns indicating a material.
2. Forms nouns from numbers, indicating a group.

   ‎golbma (“three”) + ‎-s → ‎golmmas (“group of three”)

This suffix triggers the weak grade on a preceding stressed syllable in the nominative singular and essive, and the strong grade in the other forms.

-s

1. Forms adverbs of manner from adjectives.

   ‎buorre (“good”) + ‎-s → ‎būres (“well”)

This suffix triggers the weak grade on a preceding stressed syllable.

From Proto-Samic *-ksë. Cognate with the Finnish translative ending -ksi.

-s

1. Forms adverbs indicating direction or a span of time.

   ‎davvi (“north”) + ‎-s → ‎davás (“northwards”)

   ‎dálvi (“winter”) + ‎-s → ‎dálvvás (“for the winter”)

This suffix triggers the weak grade on a preceding stressed syllable.

From a merger of two older case endings:

• Inessive, Proto-Samic *-snē. Cognate with Finnish -ssa.
• Elative, Proto-Samic *-stē. Cognate with Finnish -sta.

-s

1. The ending of the locative singular case.

This suffix triggers the weak grade on a preceding stressed syllable.

When possessive suffixes are attached, the suffix reverts to its earlier form -st- (for even-syllable stems) or -stti- (for odd-syllable stems).

-s

1. Used to form the genitive case of nouns.
2. Used to form the passive of verbs.

• If the genitive noun already ends with a sibilant, only an apostrophe (-') is added. It is incorrect to use an apostrophe before the s.

From Proto-Germanic *-isjō, *-usjō.

-s f

1. (often affects the value or quality of preceding consonants, may or may not cause i-mutation) Feminine noun suffix forming nouns from adjectives and verbs

   milts "mercy" (earlier milds), from milde "gentle, mild"

   liss "grace" (earlier liþs, līþs), from līþe "gentle, limber"

   cwiss (earlier cwiþs) "a saying", from cweþan "to say, speak"

• -z (for most words that do not end in -e)

-s

1. indicates a nominative singular of a masculine noun or adjective
2. indicates an oblique plural of a masculine noun or adjective
3. indicates a (nominative or oblique) plural of a feminine noun or adjective

• Middle French: -s
  • French: -s

• -es (after consonants)

-s m pl or f pl

1. used to form the regular plural nouns and adjectives which end in vowels
   • 2007, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter e as Relíquias da Morte [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows] (Harry Potter; 7), Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, →ISBN, page 308:

     Você notou os cabelos dela, são negros e brilhantes e macios...

     Did you notice her hair, it's dark and bright and soft...

-s

1. (Brazil, slang, rare) used to form slangier forms of certain words

   ‎foi mal (“sorry”) + ‎-s → ‎foi mals (“soz”)

   ‎grande coisa (“big deal”) + ‎-s → ‎grandes coisa (“biggie”)

   ‎valeu (“thank you”) + ‎-s → ‎valeus (“thanks”)

• (after consonants) -si
• -sh

-s

1. Evidential suffix, second-hand information. Indicates that the speaker has not directly experienced the information at hand; hearsay

   Qusqumantas kanki.

   (They say that) you are from Cusco.

   Inisqa qayna ñañantas watukusqan.

   Inez visited her sister yesterday (so I heard).

• -m/-mi

-s

1. Used to form the regular plural of nouns which end in vowels.

   amigo (“friend”) → amigos (“friends”)

   cocina (“kitchen”) → cocinas (“kitchens”)

• -es

-s

1. Used to form the genitive case of nouns.
2. Used to inflect verbs for the passive voice.