Gos or Goes or Go’s? (Correct Plural of “Have a Go”)

“Go” is mainly used as a verb, but there is a noun version relating to “having a go.” This article will explain how to use the plural form of “go” when relating to taking more than one try at something. “Goes,” “gos,” and “go’s” all seem to be valid options at first glance.

Gos or Goes or Go’s?

“Goes” is the plural form of the noun “go.” You can use it when having multiple attempts to do something (i.e. “I had two goes”). “Gos” is incorrect because you cannot end “go” with an “s.” “Go’s” is incorrect because you cannot use an apostrophe with plural forms.

Gos

Have you asked yourself if “gos” is a word before? You might have said something like, “I took many gos.” This is not grammatically correct, though.

You cannot use “gos” because “go” ends with a vowel, meaning that an “s” can’t come directly after it in the plural form. No English dictionaries recognize “gos” as an appropriate plural form, showing that it is grammatically incorrect.

• Correct: I need to have a few more goes before I leave tonight. I want to do this right.
• Incorrect: You should have taken extra gos to show that you could get it done.

As you can see, “gos” looks very jarring when used like this. If you read it aloud, you might find that “gos” loses the hard “O” sound from “go.” Instead, “gos” might be pronounced more like “goss,” which is completely wrong.

Goes

“Goes” is the correct choice when you want to use the plural form of “go.” You should add an “-es” to the end of “go” because it ends in a vowel and needs the extra “e” to make it readable.

This is standard practice for most regular nouns in English. You should always check to see if the noun ends with a vowel before using the plural form.

• You’ll need to have a few goes before you get this right. Trust me. It’s harder than it looks.
• She took two goes without letting him play. I had to confiscate the toy from her.

“Goes” is the best choice for the plural form. It is recognized by many English dictionaries, too. You do not need to worry about any other form as the plural of “go.”

Go’s

“Go’s” is not grammatically correct as the plural form of “go.” You should not use an apostrophe in regular noun plural forms as apostrophes tend to show possession.

“Go’s” would only be correct if “go” was able to own an object in the sentence. Typically, the object would come straight after “go’s” to show what “go” owns.

However, using “go’s” to indicate that you’ve taken many “goes” at something is incorrect:

• Correct: I need to take more goes. I don’t want to be the only one that failed!
• Incorrect: Have a few more go’s to see if you can get it. I won’t judge you!

Conclusion

“Goes” is the only plural form of “go” as a noun. You should use it to show that someone can take multiple tries at something (i.e. “I had many goes at it.”)

Neither “gos” nor “go’s” are correct. You cannot add an “s” to the end of “go” because it ends in a vowel. You cannot use an apostrophe because it denotes possession rather than the plural form.