Yes’s or yesses or yeses – plural of yes?

Grammar > Yes’s or Yesses or Yeses?
Published in December 2022, updated January 2023
Edited by:  Mary S., registered English teacher

“Yes” is a tricky word when it comes to writing the plural form. One of the reasons for this is that it ends with the letter “s”, similarly to Christmas (plural is Christmases).

There are a couple of different options that can be used to mean a multiple of yes. There are no clear conventions, so there is no perfect simple answer to this question.

As you will see, even dictionaries disagree on it. In this article, we will take a look at the different ways to write the plural form of yes, and provide examples of how each form can be used in a sentence.

The most accepted, correct way to write the plural of yes is yeses.

Not yes’s or yesses. But yes’s and yesses are still often used. They will generally be intended to mean the same thing by the author.

Let’s look into yeses in a bit more detail.

Meaning of yes

In English, some words are frequently misspelled especially when we talk about plurals. But with some practice, they also become easier, I promise.

Like the plural of no, the spelling of the plural of yes is a tricky one. Let’s first take a look at the meaning of yes.

Simply, yes is a word that is used to express agreement or acceptance. It is also often used in response to a question or request.

Example of yes in sentences:
“Do you want to go to the movies tonight?”
“Yes, I would like to go to the movies tonight.”

“Did you understand my joke Mary?”
“Yes, I did.”

It can also be used to signify a response to someone addressing someone or getting their attention.

For example:
“Oh, Maary!!”
“Yes?”

The plural form of yes

What are the most frequently used plural options of yes we see reading written and online text.

The most common ones are:

• yes’s
• yesses
• yeses
• yes’

We will look at each individual option here and analyse them to figure out which one is the most appropriate for you to use and why.

Yes’s

By most people’s interpretation, yes’s is the incorrect way to write the plural for the word yes.

Neither Oxford nor Cambridge dictionaries list yes’s as a plural of yes.

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

Is yes’s a word?

Yes’s is a word.

Well, probably or according to some.

While it is not the best way to describe the plural of yes and should be avoided in this context, it is in fact a word.

Some would say that the word yes can be made into the possessive form.

Adding an apostrophe followed by an “s” is meant to indicate ownership of something.

As an example:
“The odds at the election for the republic referendum are in yes’s favour”
“What’s the definition of yes? Yes’s definition is…”

There are limited uses for this word and some would argue, it is best to avoid yes’s altogether.

Yesses

Yesses is a somewhat more accepted term as plural for yes in comparison.

It is a more older or traditional spelling for the word and a lot less used in modern English.

So yesses is often used as a variant of yeses (the most correct form), but it is not considered to be the standard form of the plural for yes.

Interestingly, Oxford and Merriam-Webster dictionaries lists yesses as an accepted plural for yes whereas Cambridge dictionary does not seem to.

The use of yesses in a sentence:
“The students all answered yesses when asked if they had completed their homework.”

As you can see, the meaning is clear, but the most accurate way to spell it is yeses with one s.

Yeses

This is the most accurate way to write it.

Yeses is the correct plural form of yes and is the form that is most commonly used. Yeses is used to indicate multiple instances or occurrences of the word yes.

For example:

• “I heard several yeses when I asked if anyone wanted to go to the movies tonight.”
• “There were many yeses when he asked if anyone wanted some cake.”
• “So many yeses to our new referendum on the disposal of plastic waste.”

“Yeses” is the form of the plural “yes” that is recognised and accepted by most style guides, including the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary, the Chicago Manual of Style, Oxford Dictionary and the Associated Press Stylebook.

Yes’

Yes’ is not a correct plural for yes.

Even in the rare possessive form of the word, yes’s is preferred.

Popularity of the search terms online

When searching for the exact term “yeses” on Google, the search engine returns about 500 thousand results.

In comparison, searching for the exact term “yes’s” returns about 250 thousand results and searching for “yesses” returns just over 80 thousand results.

This suggests and adds weight to the fact that “yeses” is the most commonly used and accepted form of the plural “yes.”

Interestingly, even though less accepted by dictionaries, “yes’s” seems to be more popular in use in comparison to “yesses”.

Sound it out

“Yeses” sounds like “yes-es,” which is similar to the way that other words that end in “s” are made plural (e.g., “boxes,” “dresses,” “glasses”).

To summarise

The correct plural form of “yes” is yeses, and it is the form that should be used in most cases.

“Yesses” is also not a commonly accepted form of the plural “yes,” and it should be avoided in favour of the more commonly accepted form of “yeses.”

Yes’s and yes’ are not commonly accepted forms of the plural “yes,” and therefore they should be avoided.

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

Or do you have any tips to remember how to remember to write these 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 December 2022 in relation to meanings and definitions, link to dictionary home page here
   2. Merriam-Webster Dictionary, accessed in December 2022, link to Merriam-Webster page
   3. Oxford English Dictionary, accessed in December 2022, link to Oxford page
   4. The Chicago Manual of Style, accessed in November 2022, link to The Chicago Manual of Style
   5. Associated Press Stylebook, accessed in December 2022, link to Associated Press Stylebook
   6. Google search engine for popularity of search terms, search completed in December 2022 and January 2023
   7. How Often Should website, reference on how often things are or should be done, accessed December 2022

Important: We make every effort to ensure the grammar and information on Compare it Versus is accurate and up to date. We pride ourselves that these articles are written by humans (native in English and if possible, 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 net like is commonplace on other sites you will come across.

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 (yes’s or yesses or yeses – which is the correct plural form of yes) and so please do your own research.