⚡ Quick summary
The word crisis is a singular noun. The plural of crisis is crises. This irregular pluralization follows a pattern used by many English words derived from Greek that end in -sis. Other examples of nouns that follow this pattern include oasis (oases) and thesis (theses).
What is the plural of crisis? Crisises? Crises? Something else? This question causes a minor crisis for many people.
In this article, we will explain why the plural of crisis is crises, provide examples of other nouns that follow this pattern, and give examples of how we typically use crisis and crises in sentences.
crises vs. crisis
Crisis is a singular noun that typically refers to dramatic events or times of great chaos or danger. The plural form of crisis is crises. You would use the word crises when you are referring to more than one crisis.
For example:
- Dr. Jekyll is having an identity crisis.
- Mr. Hyde is responsible for the many crises that have struck the town.
Generally, singular nouns that end in an s will add -es to the end to form their plurals, as in classes (from class) or buses/busses (from bus).
However, crisises is not used as the plural of crisis.
Instead, crisis follows an irregular plural pattern found in other nouns that come from Greek and end in -sis. To form the plural of crisis, we change the final -is to -es. Other examples of English nouns that follow this plural pattern include:
- basis → bases
- stasis → stases
- oasis → oases
- thesis → theses
- genesis → geneses
- synthesis → syntheses
- analysis → analyses
- hypothesis → hypotheses
- psychosis → psychoses
- hypnosis → hypnoses
Most English nouns that end in -sis follow this pattern. One notable exception, however, is the word chassis. It comes from French rather than Greek, so it follows a different irregular pattern. The plural of chassis is chassis.
Examples of crisis and crises in a sentence
There’s no need to panic. We can solve this grammatical crisis by looking at how we typically use crisis and crises in sentences.
- Camila is always calm during a crisis.
- It seems like we’re moving from one crisis to another.
- In the last few years, the nation has faced multiple economic crises.
- The queen had barely resolved the succession crisis when she was faced with many other crises caused by the civil war.
