Plural forms have been the root of much confusion for English learners over the years. Every word seems to come up with a new and different rule that has to be learned. Today, we’re looking at research and researches and how it might work as a plural form.
Should I Use Research Or Researches?
The correct spelling is “research” if you’re writing about research in the plural sense. It is an uncountable word, which means you don’t add the typical “-s” or “-es” to the end of it when you want to make it plural. For instance, using “scientific research” is correct, but “scientific researches” is not. “Researches” itself is a word used as a conjugated verb, but it is not the plural spelling of research.
Is It Ever Correct To Use Researches?
So, when is it correct to use “researches” then? Since “scientific researches” isn’t right and “researches” is not synonymous with “research papers,” when can we use it? We use “researches” as a conjugated verb in sentences. If you don’t know what a conjugated verb is, it’s basically when we take the verb stem and change it to make sense with the sentence.
For example, if you say “we research,” then that’s the base verb “to research.” If you want to research in the past, then it’s “we researched” and so on. That’s how you conjugate a verb. We conjugate “research” to become “researches” when we’re writing in the third person singular or using a singular noun. The sentences that follow will show you when we use researches.
- He researches the source for his paper.
- The teacher researches for the lesson.
- She researches all day long.
Why Do People Tend To Spell It Researches Rather Than Research?
What makes it so difficult for people to understand the difference then? Well, it’s actually a simple explanation. As we’ve previously stated, the plural form comes with many different rules for different words, and it can be a real headscratcher when you’re learning a language. If we want to write about “research” in the multiple sense, then surely adding an “-s” or an “-es” at the end would make sense? Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
Other words, like “dog” or “friend,” are pluralized by adding an “s” (“dogs” and “friends”). We use the “-es” suffix when words end in “s” already, or a “ch,” “sh,” or “x.” Since “research” ends in “ch,” people believe the “-es” makes sense for it. After all, it works for “lunch” and “lunches” or “stitch” and “stitches.”
10 Examples Of Research And Researches
We’ll take you through a few examples, using both the correct and incorrect spelling of the word. From this, you should be made more familiar with when to use which form. We’ll only use it in the sense of writing about multiple instances of “research” (the plural form) and not as a conjugated verb so you can put to use what we’ve taught you in this article.
Correct:There needs to be more scientific research in that field.
Incorrect:There needs to be more scientific researches in that field.
Correct:I’ve lost all my research.
Incorrect:I’ve lost all my researches.
Correct:Research into government records tells us all we need to know about the people in a country.
Incorrect:Researches into hospital records tells us all we need to know about the health in this city.
Correct:He learns a lot from all his research.
Incorrect:He learns a lot from all his researches.
Correct:Historical research tells us how we used to fight wars.
Incorrect:Historical researches show us how we used to hunt for food.
How To Remember If The Correct Spelling Is Research Or Researches
Teaching you is one thing, but getting you to remember the correct spelling is a whole different story! Thankfully, we’ve got a quick tip to help you remember how to tell the difference between the two spelling. Basically, remember that “research” is an uncountable word. So, every time we’re talking about multiple “research” papers or other things, we’re always grouping them to become one solid entity.
If we group “research” in this way, we’ll always remember to use it in a fake singular form, which helps us understand how to work with the plural version!
Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here.
