"What's the plural of mongoose?"
The plural of mongoose is mongooses.
Definition of mongoose:
An agile ferret-like mammal. A member of the Herpestidae family.
Mongooses or Mongeese?
If the plural of goose is geese then surely the plural of mongoose should be mongeese?.
The word mongeese is actually a valid spelling for the plural of mongoose but unlike the word goose, the most commonly accepted plural for mongoose is mongooses.
The word mongeese is listed in the Mirriam Webster dictionary but instances of the word mongeese in written English are very rare as you can see in the graph below.
The plural form of a word is usually formed by adding -s to the singular form. However, there are many exceptions to this rule, and the plural of some words is formed in a different way.
In the case of "mongoose," the generally accepted correct plural form is "mongooses," not "mongeese."
The word "mongoose" comes from the Marathi word "mungūs," which refers to a small carnivorous mammal that is native to India.
Plural of Mongoose Example Sentences
Here are some examples to illustrate the use of the singular and plural forms of the word "mongoose":
Singular: "The mongoose is a small carnivorous mammal that is native to Africa, Asia, and Europe."
Plural: "Mongooses are known for their ability to kill snakes and other venomous animals."
Singular: "The mongoose darted out from its burrow and chased the snake away."
Plural: "Mongooses are excellent climbers and can easily scale trees to escape predators."
Mongooses vs. mongeese
The graph shows the occurances of the plural of mongoose in written English since 1800 using Google's Ngram Viewer.
Fun Fact:
Some types of mongooses live in large groups called colonies and these colonies may grow to have 50 members in them. You'll rarely see a single mongoose so you had better learn the word mongooses!
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