Thief or thieves?
Thief is singular. Thieves is the plural of thief. To understand why the singular noun, thief, modifies to thieves as a plural noun, keep reading.
The thieves escaped before the police arrived.
We’re as thick as thieves.
The two thiefs escaped before the police arrived.
Some thief steal small things.
Understanding the meaning and plural of thief
The history and meaning of the word ‘Thief’
The online dictionary defines a thief as “a person who steals, especially secretly or without open force; one guilty of theft or larceny.”
Which is correct, thieves or thiefs?
The plural of thief (thieves), is irregular. Though it ends in the regular –es as a plural noun, it does so by replacing its ending in the singular case. Nouns normally add on the -es/-s to showcase plurality: books, phones, dogs and cats all add an s to demonstrate more than one of something. It’s an easy and straightforward way to form a plural noun: just add an s to the singular noun.
This does not work with words such as thief, wolf, shelf, knife, (the list goes on.) It could have something to do with the fact that each of these words came to Modern English from the Germanic languages, or PIE (Proto-Indo-European languages.) The same rule that applies with these other Germanic derived nouns, (wolf, knife, wife, life, etc.) each ends in –ves as a plural noun, replacing the the sibilant -f/-fe in the singular case. See the chart below.
Nouns that end in -f/-fe and –ves
As a rule of thumb, nouns that end in -f usually switch to -ves as a plural. Keep in mind, this isn’t always the case, like with ‘roof’, which only adds an -s.
Examples of thief and thieves in sentences
| Sentence examples: thief | Sentence examples: thieves |
| A petty thief is someone who has a record of small thefts. | We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. (Aesop) |
| There is no shortage of ways to be a thief, and many of them have a specific name. | Before they cleaned themselves up, they were thieves, thugs, and junkies. |
| A pickpocket is a thief who steals things, such as wallets or watches, directly from people’s pockets or from their body. | Some thieves steal small things. |
| A burglar is a thief who breaks into or otherwise unlawfully enters a home or business to steal valuables. | Some thieves steal valuable items. |
| Set a thief to catch a thief. (Sunday Times, 2014) | Art and car thieves are common characters in pop culture. |
Synonyms and phrases for “thief”/”thieves”
| Synonyms | Phrases |
| burglar | A thief in the night |
| pickpocket | Thick as thieves |
| swindler | To be a thief of your own wallet |
| criminal | Honor among thieves |
| crook | Set a thief to catch a thief |
| robber | As quick as a thief |
| bandit | The thieves‘ market |
| shoplifter | Run like a thief |
Origin of the word
From etymonline on thief:
Old English þeof “thief, robber,” from Proto-Germanic *theuba- (source also of Old Frisian thiaf, Old Saxon thiof, Middle Dutch and Dutch dief, Old High German diob, German dieb, Old Norse þiofr, Gothic þiufs).
Worksheet
What is the plural of “thief”?
How are words like “thief”, “wolf”, and “knife” pluralized?
Which of the following words mentioned in the post forms its plural the same way as “thief”?
The post states that nouns like “books”, “phones”, and “dogs” typically form their plural by:
Is the plural of “thief” considered regular or irregular?
A burglar is a who breaks into or otherwise unlawfully enters a home or business to steal valuables.
Some steal small things, while others steal valuable items.
The forest was said to be home to packs of wild .
She displayed her collection of ornate on the wall.
Many nouns ending in -f or -fe form their plural by changing the ending to .
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FAQs
Q: What’s the plural of “thief”?
A: “Thieves” is the plural of “thief”. It’s noted as irregular because it replaces the singular’s ending (-f) with -ves before adding -es, unlike regular nouns.
Q: Is the word thief singular or plural?
A: Thief is singular. The plural, which represents more than one thief, is “thieves.”
Q: Why is thief plural “thieves”?
A: Unlike regular nouns adding -s/-es, “thieves” is irregular. It replaces the singular -f ending with -ves, a pattern shared by words like wolf and knife.
Q: Other words like thief use -ves?
A: Words like wolf, shelf, knife, wife, and life follow the same pattern as thief, changing their singular ending (-f or -fe) to -ves in the plural form.
Q: How is “thief” used in a sentence?
A: “A petty thief is someone who has a record of small thefts” and “A burglar is a thief who breaks into or otherwise unlawfully enters a home or business.”
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Citation: Yash, D. “What’s the Plural of Thief?” Grammarflex. www.grammarflex.com/whats-the-plural-of-thief/
