What’s the plural of “salmon”?
It’s kind of a trick question. Just like other types of fish, and the word ‘fish‘ itself, salmon keeps its singular form even when it’s used as a plural. This means that whether you want to say there’s one or more salmon, you can just use salmon. See the word in context:
I just saw a salmon swimming in the lake!
That’s because tons of salmon swim in this lake.
What’s the singular of salmon?
As mentioned, the singular of salmon is also salmon, and so is the plural. English is weird that way.
What is a salmon?
The Cambridge online dictionary defines salmon as:
A medium-sized silver-coloured fish that lives in the sea or rivers and swims up rivers to produce its eggs. Its pink flesh is eaten as a food: fresh/smoked/tinned salmon; salmon mousse; salmon fishing.
Irregular plural nouns that stay the same
The following irregular nouns do not change between their singular and plural forms:
| singular | plural |
| salmon | salmon |
| moose | moose |
| fish | fish (sometimes fishes) |
| elk | elk |
| deer | deer |
| bison | bison (or bisons) |
Examples of the word salmon used in sentences
The following sentences show the correct use of the word salmon in context:
2. Thousands of young salmon have been killed by the pollution.
3. Over the past 20 years this parasite has caused significant economic losses in farmed salmon production and possibly in wild salmonid populations locally.
4. About 1,700 fish were saved, of which over half were either trout or juvenile salmon. (From the Hansard archive.)
5. Salmon are intensively farmed in many parts of the world.
Origin of the word salmon
From etymology online on salmon (n.),
“Early 13c., samoun, the North Atlantic salmon, from Anglo-French samoun, Old French salmun (Modern French saumon), from Latin salmonem (nominative salmo) “a salmon.”
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