Plural of Wife – Why It’s “Wives” and How to Use It

If you’ve ever typed wifes or wondered whether “wives” is right, you’re not alone. English loves a few tricky spellings, and the word wife is one of them. The good news? The rule behind the change is short, and once you know it, you’ll never stumble again.

The Simple Rule Behind “Wives”

When a noun ends in -fe, the standard way to make it plural is to swap -fe for -ves. So wife becomes wives. The same pattern works for knife → knives, leaf → leaves, and life → lives. You don’t add an “s” and you don’t keep the “f”. The reason is historical: older English used the -ves ending, and modern spelling kept that tradition.

Simply put, whenever you see a word ending in -f or -fe, think “replace with -ves” unless you know an exception (like roof → roofs). That one‑step change makes “wives” the only correct plural for “wife”.

Common Mistakes and Quick Fixes

People often write wifes because they’re used to adding s to make plurals. A quick mental check can stop that habit: ask yourself if the word ends in -fe. If yes, swap it for -ves. Another slip is forgetting the pronunciation difference. Wives sounds like “wivz”, not “wife-s”. Saying the word out loud can help lock the right spelling in your mind.

When you’re editing, look for the pattern ... wife ... and see if the sentence needs a plural. If it does, replace any wifes with wives. Most word processors even have a built‑in spell‑check that catches this, but a manual eye‑test is safer for short texts like social media posts.

Here are three quick examples:

• Correct: All the wives at the reunion shared stories.
• Incorrect: All the wifes at the reunion shared stories.
• Tip: Remember the “v” sound – it’s the same as in “live” or “give”.

That’s all you need to keep the plural of wife straight. The rule is tiny, the payoff is big – you’ll write cleaner emails, blog posts, and even product descriptions without a hitch.

So next time you’re listing members of a family, planning a wedding, or just chatting about friends, go with wives. It’s the right form, it sounds natural, and it shows you’ve got the basics of English grammar down. Happy writing!