Skies or Skys – What’s the Plural of “Sky”? (With Examples)

There’s only one “Sky”, so it may sound weird when someone talks about it in the plural form. Have you ever heard people say “Skies” or “Skys”?

We want to know which of those forms is correct, and when it’s acceptable to use it. Also, which form should we avoid?

Skies or Skys – What’s the Plural of “Sky”?

“Sky” is the area above the Earth, in which the clouds, the sun, and the stars can be seen. There’s only one sky, so its plural form isn’t so common. But the correct form would be “Skies” and not “Skys”. You can use “Skies”, but you should always avoid “Skys”.

Take a look at the examples below:

• The skys are so clear! (incorrect)
• The skies are so clear!

• If you look at the skys tonight, you’ll see a meteor shower. (incorrect)
• If you look at the skies tonight, you’ll see a meteor shower.

“Skies” often carries a figurative meaning or even a poetic tone to it. It’s ok, because there has always been a lot of symbolism and mythology around the “Sky”, and it’s expected that language would follow that idea.

The important thing is to know that “Skies” it’s grammatically correct and acceptable, so you may feel free to use this word if you feel the need to.

However, “Skys” is incorrect and should never be used. Keep that in mind.

Skies

“Skies” is the correct plural form for the word “Sky”. Since there’s only one “Sky” around the Earth, the use of the word “Skies” is often figurative or even poetic. “Skies” is correct and acceptable.

If we consider that The Cambridge Dictionary defines “Sky” as “the area above the earth in which clouds, the sun, and the starts can be seen”, it’s undeniable that there’s some mythology and symbolism around it, that justifies the use of “Skies” as its plural form.

Take a look at the examples below:

1. The skies aren’t very clear today.
2. When do we take to the skies, honey?
3. The skies are clear most of the days around here.
4. Nothing but blue skies!
5. The skies were covered in beautiful clouds.

Skys

“Skys” is an incorrect plural form for the word “Sky”, and it should never be used. If you feel the need in your speeches or writings to use the word “Sky” in its plural form, the correct way to do it is to use “Skies”.

“Skys” isn’t a word. To illustrate the examples, let’s see some sentences with the incorrect form “Skys” followed by a corrected version of the sentence, using the appropriate “Skies”.

1. The skys are beautiful. (incorrect)
2. The skies are beautiful.

3. The gray skys are a characteristic of winter. (incorrect)
4. The gray skies are a characteristic of winter.

5. The forecast shows rainy skys all day. (incorrect)
6. The forecast shows rainy skies all day.

Sky’s

“Sky’s” is a contraction for “Sky Is” or the possessive form for the word “Sky”. Either way, it’s correct and acceptable – albeit uncommon and not used very often.

Take a look at the examples below:

1. The sky’s so beautiful today.
2. The sky’s very clear, so we expect to have an easy flight.
3. The sky’s a beautiful blue like I’ve never seen it.
4. The sky’s colors in Florida are different from everything I’ve seen before.
5. The sky’s turning pink at sunset.
6. The sky’s full of smoke due to the burning field in our area.

Which Is Used the Most?

Which of those words is used more often, “Sky”, “Skies”, “Skys” or “Sky’s”? We’re interested in finding out, so we’ll take a look at the graph from Google Ngram Viewer below.

“Sky” is by far the most used word. This is what we expected, because “Sky” is the base for all of the other forms we look at in this article. We could say it’s the main one and, consequently, the one people tend to use with more frequency.

“Skys” and “Sky’s” appear at the very bottom of the graph. We believe this is the case for “Skys” simply because it’s an incorrect form that all people should avoid using. As for “Sky’s”, although it’s correct, it’s not commonly used, so we expected to see that reflected on the graph.

“Skies” which is a correct poetic form to talk about the “Sky” appears way above “Skys” and “Sky’s”, but still way below “Sky”. Considering that the plural of “Sky” isn’t as commonly used as the plural of other words, this is also what we expected to see.

Final Thoughts

“Skies” is the correct plural form for the word “Sky”. Since there’s only one “Sky”, to use the word “Skies” implies a certain poetic or figurative meaning. You can use it, though, and be sure it’s acceptable. “Skys” is an incorrect plural for “Sky” and should always be avoided”.