How To Spell Hippopotamus In Plural
How to pronounce hippopotami audio ˌ mē.
How to spell hippopotamus in plural. The plural of hippopotamus the plural of hippopotamus is hippopotamuses or hippopotami. Even though the noun hippopotamus has a greek root it is often assigned the latin plural hippopotami. The plural of hippopotamus is hippopotamuses though in many contexts the latin plural form of hippopotami can also be used.
Since the word hippopotamus comes from greek instead of latin the correct pluralization would be hippopotamuses. Plural hippopotamuses or hippopotami ˌhi pə ˈpä tə ˌmī. This is similar to the plural form of octopus being octopuses although many believed and taught that octopi was the correct form they incorrectly tried to tie it to a latin word with a latin plural when it also was a greek word originally.
But hippopotamus is an english word when english speakers use it and there is nothing wrong with pluralizing it in the manner of our own language. The plural form of hippopotamus is hippopotamuses or hippopotami. Twenty two days spent tracking elephants hippopotamuses and crocodiles in the okavango delta.
Technically you could use either hippopotamuses or hippopotami and be correct. The word hippopotamus denoting the large gray mammal comes from latin and thence from greek and its latin plural is hippopotami but hippopotamus is an english word when english speakers use it and there is nothing wrong with pluralizing it in the manner of our own language. Hippopotamuses plural of hippopotamus nominative plural of.
Hippopotamuses live in groups of up to thirty. How to pronounce hippopotamus audio. Hippopotami hippopotamuses hippos the word hippopotamus denoting the large gray mammal comes from latin and thence from greek and its latin plural is hippopotami.
Though they are bulky animals hippopotami can gallop at 19 mph on land. Initial genetic studies have provided evidence that the marine mammals are most closely related to hippopotamuses.