Plural of no – no’s or noes or nos?

Grammar > No’s or noes or nos – what is the plural of no? Which is correct?
Published in January 2023
Edited by:  Mary S., registered English teacher

Ever got confused about how to spell the plural of no?

Don’t worry, you are not the only one. Like yeses and Christmases, some plurals can be a bit hard to spell in English.

There are a few different ideas that can be used to mean a multiple of no. And clear rules are somewhat lacking.

So which is correct?

Let’s keep it simple.

The plural of no is noes.

Nos is also correct and frequently used interchangeably.

No’s is incorrect – but still often used.

Let’s look into the plural of no in some more detail.

Meaning of no

In English, some words are misspelled regularly. Especially plurals. But once you learn how to spell them, it is a breeze.

No is one of the tricky ones. Let’s first take a look at the meaning of the word.

No is a word that is used to express disagreement or negative response. It is also often used in response to a question or request.

Example of no in common language sentences :
“Do you want to mark these essays today?”
“No, I would rather watch movies.”

“Mary, do you like watching tennis?”
“No, I don’t.”

No can also be used to signify a meaning of “not any”.

For example:
“There are no excuses today!”
“No point in cleaning your sports shoes before you play soccer in the mud.”

The plural of no

What plurals of no will you come across in written literature and while reading articles online?

Some common ones are:

• no’s
• nos
• noes
• nos.

Let’s analyse each individual option for the plural of no here and and find out which one is the most appropriate  to use and why.

No’s

By most people’s interpretation and official resources, no’s is the incorrect way to write the plural for the word no. For example, neither Oxford nor Cambridge dictionaries list no’s as a plural of no.

Apostrophes generally signify possession.

You will still find it used a lot though, especially online.

Is no’s a word?

No’s is not the best way to describe the plural of no and should be avoided.

It is still commonly used. A probable reason is that it evokes the meaning of the plural of no well and is easy to understand.

So you will see the word no’s in ads and business marketing campaigns.

So even though it is very popular, strictly speaking, no’s is incorrect.

What about the possessive form?

Some say that the word no can be made into the possessive version.

Adding an apostrophe followed by an “s” in English grammar is meant to indicate ownership of something, someone or a concept.

Let’s use an example to explain further:
“The odds of the independence referendum election are in no’s favour”
“Mary, what is the definition of no? No’s definition is…”

So while no’s can be considered a word, it has a limited uses.

Nos

Nos is an accepted plural form for no.

Along with noes, it can be used interchangeably and correctly to signify the multiple of no.

And most dictionaries will agree with this.

Let’s use of nos in a sentence:
“Three students at the French school of language answered nos when asked if they had completed their French homework.”
“Nos were heard around the room at the board meeting.”

The meaning of nos is clear and we simply add an “s” to no to make a plural in a very standard and accepted way.

Keep in mind, some would likely confuse “nos” as the abbreviation for “numbers.”

Numbers in abbreviation, we would add punctuation (nos.). But it can still be confusing.

This is why we still suggest noes as the most correct plural of no.

Noes

Noes is the most accurate way to write the plural of no.

It is the correct plural form and most commonly used. Noes is used to indicate multiple occurrences or instances of the word no.

For example:

• “I heard so many noes when I asked if anyone who wanted to go to the park this rainy morning.”
• “There were four noes when he asked if the students wanted cake.”
• “For three yeses, there are at least ten noes.”
• “So many noes on the new referendum for the use of nuclear energy to decrease carbon emissions.”

Noes is officially recognised and accepted by all dictionaries.

Popularity of the plural of no search terms online

When searching for the exact term “no’s” on Google, the search engine returns about 9 million results.

In comparison, searching for the exact term “nos” returns nearly 4 million results.

And searching for “noes” on the same day in 2023 returns just over 5 million results.

This suggests and adds weight to the fact that “noes” is more accepted than “nos” but the difference is not the great.

Most interestingly though, even though less accepted by dictionaries, “no’s” seems to be very popular in actual and especially in the online space. The reasons for this, as we discussed above, is that even though grammatically and traditionally considered incorrect, “no’s” get’s the point across and easy to understand. You could say, that’s the whole point of the word.

Certainly a debate can be had.

Sound it out

All forms of the plural of no sound similar so our suggestion to sound them out does not really help in this case.

To summarise

The correct plural forms of “no” are noes and nos. We suggest using noes.

The use of no’s is very popular and accepted even though strictly speaking incorrect.

Do you make errors when you write or spell in English?

Or do you have any tips to remember how to remember to write the plural of no correctly?

Also let me know if there is any other confusing English grammar words you would like us to cover on Compare it Versus.

Please drop your tips and comments in the section below.

References

References used in the writing of this article

1. 1. Dictionary.com official web page, accessed in January 2023 in relation to no meanings and definitions as well as plural derivations, link to dictionary home page here
   2. Merriam-Webster Dictionary, accessed in January 2023, link to Merriam-Webster page
   3. Oxford English Dictionary, accessed in December 2023, link to Oxford page
   4. Google search engine for popularity of search terms, search completed in late January 2023
   5. How Often Should website, reference on how often things are or should be done, accessed January 2023

Important: We take a lot effort to ensure the spelling, grammar and general information on Compare it Versus is accurate and up to date. We pride ourselves that these articles are written by humans (ideally with some literary or English teaching background – Mary, the author and editor of this post has plenty of both) rather than robots which scrape the internet like is common on other similar sites.

Occasionally though, we may get it wrong. If you see an error, please let us know below in a comment or by contacting us so we can correct it. No guarantee is provided as to the accuracy of the information provided on this page (Plural of no – noes, nos, no’s) and so please make sure you do your own research.