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Eseys or Essays – Which is Correct?

• by Sarah Thompson
• March 3, 2024

Let’s have a conversation about the common mistake people make when writing the word “Essays.” Many individuals seem to get confused between “Eseys” and “Essays” and find themselves wondering which spelling is correct. Today, we will debunk this confusion and establish the correct spelling once and for all.

To address this issue, it is pertinent to emphasize that “Essays” is the correct spelling of the word. The incorrect term “Eseys” is a common misspelling resulting from a typographical error or a lack of familiarity with the correct spelling.

Now, let’s learn the reasons why “Essays” is the right spelling. Firstly, “Essays” is the plural form of the singular noun “Essay.” When we want to refer to more than one essay, we simply add an “s” to the end of the word. This is the conventional English rule for forming plurals of nouns, and it applies to “Essay” as well. For example, “I have written multiple essays on various topics.” Here, the correct plural form of “Essay” is used to convey the idea that the speaker has written more than one essay.

Moreover, we can also look at past forms of verbs to further solidify the correct spelling. For instance, the verb form of “Essay” is “Essayed.” “Essayed” is the past tense form, and by examining the conjugation of the verb, we can recognize that “Essays” is indeed the accurate plural form. You might say, “He essayed his thoughts on the subject,” to convey that someone expressed their ideas in the form of an essay.

To illustrate the incorrect spelling, “Eseys,” it is crucial to emphasize that this word does not exist in Standard English. It is a mistake that has often emerged due to a lack of knowledge or inattentiveness during writing. Therefore, it is essential to be attentive and avoid this misspelling in formal writing, as it may weaken your language skills and leave a negative impression on the reader.

In conclusion, we have effectively established that the correct spelling of the word referring to multiple essays is “Essays.” “Eseys” is an erroneous form that should be avoided. Remember, using proper grammar and spelling not only enhances your communication skills, but it also showcases your proficiency in the English language. So, the next time you find yourself unsure about whether to write “Eseys” or “Essays,” confidently choose the latter for an accurate and grammatically correct sentence!

So, keep practicing your writing skills, pay attention to proper grammar, and remember the correct spelling of “Essays.” With dedication and practice, you will become an exceptional writer and expert in the English language.

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Meaning of essay in English

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• I want to finish off this essay before I go to bed .
• His essay was full of spelling errors .
• Have you given that essay in yet ?
• Have you handed in your history essay yet ?
• I'd like to discuss the first point in your essay.
• boilerplate
• composition
• dissertation
• essay question
• peer review
• go after someone
• go all out idiom
• go down swinging/fighting idiom
• go for it idiom
• go for someone
• shoot the works idiom
• smarten (someone/something) up
• smarten up your act idiom
• square the circle idiom
• step on the gas idiom

essay | American Dictionary

Examples of essay, collocations with essay.

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Translations of essay

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Word of the Day

injury to someone caused by severe cold, usually to their toes, fingers, ears, or nose, that causes permanent loss of tissue

Keeping up appearances (Talking about how things seem)

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• Grammar Guide

I have a love/hate relationship with the English language. I love writing and communicating ideas to fellow readers. I (sometimes) hate all the weird rules.

Take plurals, for instance. English has many strange plural words that defy rules or make their own. In this article, we'll cover several tricky plurals (such as "moose" and "moose") and do our best to explain how they work. I hope it drives your love/hate relationship more toward the former!

Regular Plurals

You probably don't need our help with these. For most words, simply add an "s" to the end of the singular form to make a plural. For instance:

Singular: paper / Plural: paper s

Singular: cat / Plural: cat s

Singular: tree / Plural: tree s

Easy enough. Things get slightly complicated when the word already ends with an "s," or with a "ch," "sh," "x," or "z." In this case, it's often correct to add "es" instead:

Singular: grass / Plural: grass es

Singular: bench / Plural: bench es

Singular: radish / Plural: radish es

What about words like "memory"? To pluralize a word ending in a consonant and the letter "y," replace the "y" with "ies":

Singular: memory / Plural: memor ies

Singular: baby / Plural: bab ies

Singular: glory / Plural: glor ies

Now let's advance to the truly tricky stuff.

Irregular Plurals

As the name implies, irregular plurals don't follow the rules of their regular counterparts. The best way to learn these is to memorize them. Here are a few examples:

Calf and Calves

One might think calfs is the right word, but it's actually cal ves . There are a few others with a similar construction, including leaf and lea ves , knife and kni ves , and life and li ves .

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Hoof and hoofs (or hooves).

Some irregular plurals are actually acceptable in multiple forms, as in the case of the word hoof . The logical plural hoof s actually works here. Yet using hoo ves is also valid. As the writer, it's your choice which you use, so long as you're consistent.

Just don't get tripped up with words that sound similar. For example, hooves is an acceptable plural of hoof . However, prooves is not the plural of proof . The correct plural is proof s . It's just one of those things you have to remember (though ProWritingAid's homonym report can help).

Person and People

This is certainly one of the stranger ones on this list. The preferred plural of person is not persons . It's people .

However, you've probably heard the word persons used before, such as in the phrase "Missing Persons Case." That's because persons is a formal version of the plural and therefore used almost exclusively in legal settings. So unless you're a law enforcement official, you should opt for people .

What about peoples ? In the words of Jane Mairs , Director of English Language Learning Publishing, "the only time you will want to use the word 'peoples' is when you are referring to groups of people from multiple ethnic, cultural, racial, or national backgrounds." For example:

"The American people." (We use people because we're referring only to Americans.)

"The American, Chinese, Mexican, and English peoples." (We use peoples because we're referring to many folks from many countries.)

Latin and Greek Plurals

There are a few tricky holdovers from these languages that have remained in English. A few examples:

Stimulus and Stimuli

There's no such word as stimuluses (even though that would make logical sense). According to our Ancient Greek friends, the proper plural is stimuli .

Genus and Genera

Again, you'd probably guess that the plural form of genus would be genuses . However, it's actually genera . Fortunately, if you're not a scientist, this probably won't be a concern too often.

Alumnus and Alumni

This one came up when I revisited my alma mater the other day. When asked for the reason for my visit, I said, "I'm an alumni." I feared I'd botched it and, sure enough, I had.

What I should've said was, "I'm an alumnus ." That's the singular form for male graduates. For female graduates, the generally accepted form is alumna . The plural form for both is alumni . So if my wife had been there as well, she would've said, "I'm an alumna," or, "We're alumni."

As if that wasn't tricky enough, there's also another plural form for a group of graduates who are all women. It's alumnae . So if my wife was with a female friend who graduated from the same school, she would've said, "We're alumnae."

So to reiterate: alumni can refer to a group of all-male graduates or a group of both men and women. Alumnae can refer only to a group of all-female graduates. If there's even one dude in there, you'd use alumni .

Many animals use the same word for both their singular and plural form. Thanks, animals! These are called invariants. For example, "I saw a moose " is correct, as is, "I saw several moose ." Mooses , meese , and moocices are not real words. Here are some others that fit this category:

Miscellaneous Weird Plurals

Ox and oxen.

Logic rarely factors into English. Therefore, the plural of ox is not oxes . It's oxen ! You probably knew that one if you're a fan of the Oregon Trail computer games.

Fox and Foxes

Since fox rhymes with ox , you might think the plural of fox would be foxen . It's not! The plural of fox is foxes . I made this error several times and felt silly for doing so.

Data and Datas(?)

There's a constant debate over the plural form of data . Is it datas ? Is datas even a word?

First of all, data is already a plural word; its singular companion is datum —or was. Unless you're in a technical field, that singular has been largely abandoned. Instead, most grammarians accept data as both a singular and plural form.

So what about the word datas ? It's mostly a matter of opinion. Though some use datas as a plural, others oppose the word. It seems most authorities agree that the preferred form for both singular and plural is data , and that it should be never used with the indefinite article ("a"). Easy to remember, since sentences like "I found a data I think you should see" just sound weird.

If you're still confused, I found this article immensely helpful when researching the topic myself. Check it out!

What are some tricky plurals we missed? Let us know in the comments below!

Common Questions about Plurals

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• Writing Tips

Grammar Tips: Plural Nouns

7-minute read

• 10th March 2023

If someone asked you what a noun is , you’d probably say it’s a person, place, or thing. Pretty simple, right? But what about plural nouns? For example, what is the plural form for cat ? If you said cats , you’re right! What about the plural for foot ? If you said foots , you’re incorrect. The correct form is feet. Simply adding an s at the end works for some nouns – but not all.

Plural nouns can be confusing for many English learners. Most students struggle with regular versus irregular plurals as well as apostrophe usage with some plurals. Nevertheless, understanding plural nouns is important for effective communication. After all, you’ll encounter them in many contexts!

If you find plural nouns confusing, read on! This blog will provide essential grammar tips for using plural nouns correctly in written and spoken English. We’ll discuss pluralization rules as well as irregular and tricky plural noun forms. By the time you finish reading, you’ll feel confident using plural nouns effectively in any context. And understanding plural nouns can go a long way to improving your English grammar .

What Are Plural Nouns?

Plural nouns refer to more than one person, place, or thing. You can easily recognize most of them by their s or es ending:

There’s not much to pluralizing such nouns. However, things get tricky with irregular plurals, as they have their own unique forms. For example:

English language learners often struggle to distinguish regular plurals from irregular ones . Fortunately, to form irregular plurals, you just need to know which letters to change.

How to Make Nouns Plural

As we stated above, you can make most singular nouns plural by adding s or es to the end of the word, depending on the word’s ending. Likewise, collective nouns (nouns that represent groups) can be made plural by adding s or es . For example:

Regular Plural Nouns

Nouns such as bottle, toy, bike , and chair are the easiest to pluralize, as you simply add s to the end. However, some nouns require the es ending:

Irregular Plurals

The rules for forming these plurals are different from the rules for forming regular plurals, and interestingly enough, there are multiple ways to form irregular plurals. Examples of nouns that have irregular plurals include mouse , man , goose , wolf , and wife . Their pluralization looks like this:

Pluralizing these is usually a matter of knowing the rules regarding certain noun endings. If a noun ends in f or fe , you change the ending to ve before adding an s to form the plural:

The only exceptions to this rule are roof, belief, chef, chief , and café , which take the s ending. For nouns such as goose, foot, and tooth , you change the double o into a double e to make the plural. So the plural forms are geese, feet, and teeth , respectively.

Booth and book are exceptions: their plurals use the s ending. Therefore, changing the double o to a double e is incorrect. And for nouns such as man and woman , you only need to change the a to e to make the plural.

How to Pluralize the Word Mouse

The word mouse has a unique plural form. You simply change mouse to mice :

However, you wouldn’t apply this rule to other words ending in ouse , such as house . You would simply add the s ending for those.

More Rules for Plural Nouns

The final letter of a noun often dictates the correct spelling of the pluralized form. But just as we saw with irregular plurals, you must be aware of special rules.

Singular Nouns Ending in Y

If a singular noun ends in y and the letter before the y is a consonant, you change the ending to ies to make the plural:

If a singular noun ends in y and the letter before the y is a vowel, just add an s to make the plural:

Singular Nouns Ending in O

If a singular noun ends in o , add es to make the plural:

However, you would not apply this rule to nouns such as piano , halo , and photo , which take the s ending for the plural.

Which Nouns Take the es Ending?

We know you’ve probably been asking this question from the beginning. The simple answer is that the es ending applies to nouns that end in s , ss , sh , ch , x , and z . For example:

Plural Noun Exceptions

While we’ve already mentioned a few exceptions, more exist. If a singular noun ends in us , the plural ending is i . For example:

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If a singular noun ends in is , the plural ending is es :

If a singular noun ends in on , the plural ending is a :

Believe it or not, some nouns don’t change at all when you pluralize them. Such nouns include sheep, fish, deer, series , aircraft , and species . They can be singular or plural:

Plural Nouns Versus Possessive Nouns

Possessive nouns demonstrate ownership, generally with the ’ s ending. Let’s say your cousin Bill owns a boat (lucky Bill!). You would indicate it like this:

Most students confuse plural nouns with possessive nouns because of the s endings. Understanding how to use apostrophes with plurals and possessives can be tricky. Plural nouns don’t have apostrophes unless they’re also possessive. Let’s consider the following examples:

Common Mistakes When Using Plural Nouns

1. Adding s or es endings to irregular nouns (e.g., goose , man , child , foot )

2. Adding an apostrophe to a plural noun when it’s not possessive

3. Adding s endings with nouns that actually need the es ending

4. Adding pluralizing endings to nouns that don’t change at all (e.g., deer , fish , series )

5. Adding the wrong ending to nouns that end in us , is , and on

Tips for Avoiding Errors in Writing and Speaking

1. Remember that plural nouns don’t use apostrophes unless they’re also possessive.

2. You cannot pluralize all nouns simply by using s or es endings.

3. Remember which letters need to be changed to form irregular plurals (which all have unique forms).

4. Know which nouns use the s and es endings.

5. Know which nouns are singular and plural in sentences.

Tips for Identifying Singular and Plural Nouns in Sentences

Looking at how much of something a noun is referring to can tell you whether that noun is singular or plural. It’s singular if it refers to one person or thing. It’s plural if it refers to more than one person or thing.

When reading a sentence, look for any nouns with s or es endings. If so, they’re likely plural. Furthermore, by understanding how much of something the noun refers to, you can recognize the tricky irregular plural nouns we’ve covered.

Incorrect Plural Nouns Lead to Different Meanings

It’s important to use the correct forms of plural and possessive nouns, as incorrect plurals can change the meaning of a sentence. Take these examples:

We encourage you to practice using plural nouns correctly. One way to do this is by trying a worksheet on singular and plural nouns . The more practice you have, the more comfortable you’ll be. For our visual learners, we recommend this video on how to form plural nouns . Finally, we encourage you to proofread your written work for correct plural noun usage.

If you’re currently working on an essay or a paper, you might be interested in letting our proofreading experts review your writing. They can check for grammar and punctuation errors and make sure the spelling is perfect. They’ll also ensure the correct use of plural nouns! Consider submitting a 500-word document for free today.

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The plural form of most nouns is formed by adding s to the end of the word.

There are twelve boys and thirteen girls in that class.

When a word ends in sh , ch , s , z , or x , the plural is usually formed by adding es to the end.

We need three batches of cookies for three different classes at school.

When a word ends in [consonant] + y , the plural is formed by changing the y to ie and adding s .

I may live in only one country at a time, but I feel like a citizen of many countries .

In compound nouns, the principal word is the one made plural.

daughters-in-law , governors general , passers-by , ladies in waiting

Many nouns referring to animals have the same form in the singular and in the plural.

The land sustained an abundance of deer and moose , and could also be used to raise sheep .

If a noun ends in f or fe the plural is usually formed by adding s , but is sometimes formed by changing the f or fe to a ve and adding s .

His beliefs told him that those loaves required sharp knives .

If a noun ends in o , the plural is usually formed by adding s , but is sometimes formed by adding es .

My heroes all play banjos .

Words borrowed into English from other languages sometimes follow the rules for pluralisation in English and sometimes those for pluralisation in the original language.

phenomenon , phenomena and thesis , theses from Greek; alumnus , alumni and alumna , alumnae from Latin; tableau , tableaux and corps , corps from French

Special Cases

Plurals of symbols, numbers (including years), and uppercase letters are usually formed by adding s .

He was concerned with the use of @s in formal writing since the 1990s . I could not suppress a smile when I saw so many As on my transcript.

Plurals of lowercase letters are usually formed by adding ’s after the letter.

He wondered how many c’s and m’s were in the word “accommodate.”

For most proper names, the plural is formed simply by adding s to the end of the name, though when a proper name ends in s the plural is formed by adding es .

The three Jacks joined the three Jills to fetch three pails of water. We always worked very hard to keep up with the Joneses .

Collective nouns (referring to groups of people, animals, or things) are usually treated as singular. If, however, you want to lay stress on the individual members rather than on the overall unit, you may treat the noun as plural:

A flock of birds is flying in a V formation , but A flock of birds are threatening our crops . My family is strange , but My family are unpredictable in their tastes .

Definition of 'essay'

essay in American English

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Singular or Plural? Sometimes, It Depends

The distributive plural.

When each part of a plural subject possesses something individually, the thing possessed must generally be in the plural as well. For example:

The two women blew their noses .

Each woman possesses one nose, so, logically, two women possess two noses. Some usage experts call this type of plural “the distributive plural” (Quirk et al. 768).

The Distributive Singular

But in several cases, the thing possessed should be in the singular.

To Indicate Joint Possession

For example, use the singular when two people possess something jointly:

While traveling together, the two women got lost and consulted their map .

To Convey Universal, Abstract, and Figurative Ideas

Wilson Follett remarks that the thing possessed also “remains in the singular when what is plurally possessed is universal, abstract, or figurative” (211). So if, after blowing their noses, our two women celebrated with a bottle of wine, we might say, The two women toasted their health (universal). If the doorbell rang while they were drinking the wine, we might say, The two women were led by their curiosity to open the door (abstract). But if no one was there when they opened the door, we might say, The visitors wanted to get something off their chest but had a change of heart (figurative).

To Avoid Ambiguity

Quirk et al. observe that sometimes the singular is needed if the plural would be ambiguous (768):

We asked the children to name their favorite animal .

If they were asked to name their favorite animals , the children might not be sure if they should name more than one. To make clear that each child, rather than the group as a whole, should give an answer, we could revise as follows:

We asked each child to answer the question, What is your favorite animal?

Mind Your Nouns

As Words into Type warns, when the sentence has more than one noun, you must be careful to use the singular for the correct noun (357): You should have seen the expression on their faces when they heard the news (not the expression on their face ).

Works Cited

Follett, Wilson. Modern American Usage: A Guide . Revised by Erik Wensberg, Hill and Wang, 1998.

Quirk, Randolph, et al. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language . Longman, 1985.

Words into Type . 3rd ed., Prentice Hall, 1974.

10 Comments

Tamara herring 15 august 2019 at 09:08 pm.

What is the correct style for writing the plural of a word that is being used as a noun within a sentence? For example, “You are using too many ands in your writing.” From what I’ve found, the Chicago Manual of Style dictates that it be written exactly as included in my example—no underline, apostrophe, quotation marks, etc. Is it the same rule for MLA?

Your e-mail address will not be published

Jennifer A. Rappaport 18 August 2019 AT 08:08 AM

Great question. See our related post on how to form the plural of so : https://style.mla.org/plural-so/.

Jennifer Diaz 14 December 2021 AT 09:12 AM

Should a state name be used as a plural noun? For example, which sentence would be correctly written: California sent all their trash to Nevada. OR California sent all its trash to Nevada.

C. Barney Latimer 25 January 2022 AT 05:01 PM

A state name is a singular noun, so the correct sentence is “California sent all its trash to Nevada.” Many nouns known as collective nouns—such as team, family, and class—can be treated as singular or plural, depending on how they are used, but state names are not collective nouns and therefore always take singular verbs.

Luke 17 January 2022 AT 05:01 AM

Hi Jennifer,

Could you please help me with this?

If I was writing the following, which is correct or are both acceptable?

Left and Right Engine Bays or Left and Right Engine Bay

Thank you for your help.

Regards, Luke

C. Barney Latimer 10 March 2022 AT 05:03 PM

Since you are naming two distinct bays, the left one and the right one, the correct formulation would be plural—“left and right engine bays.”

Guru 22 April 2022 AT 03:04 AM

Every time people blows or blow?

Singular or Plural?

Vera Rodrigues 15 June 2022 AT 07:06 AM

Can you tell me witch one is correct: Part of the goods are made of organic cotton, and the other part are made in regular cotton or Part of the goods is made of organic cotton, and the other part is made in regular cotton?

Samantha Spinner 03 November 2022 AT 07:11 PM

When writing an essay, can some paragraphs be in the plural form and some in the singular form?

Sally 29 January 2024 AT 01:01 PM

How should I handle a situation in which there may be more than one of something, but that's entirely up to the participants? Example: There may be more than one car used by a team participating in an event, though most teams will work with only one. There are a lot of instructions for those participating, and writing "car or cars" at every reference is clunky and uses up valuable space, while using "car(s)" every time makes for confusing grammar. However the person running the event wants to be sure teams know they can provide multiple cars if they choose to, and not all participants will be involved in or see every piece of communication about the event, so we can't really refer to it as car(s) just once.

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Which Is The Correct Plural Spelling? (It's a Trick Question)

Referenda & Referendums

Definition : a public vote on a particular issue

Latin has given English a sizable portion of its vocabulary, and one of the reasons that so many of our words are descended from that language is that they have entered our tongue at a number of distinct points. Some, such as butter , date back to the Roman invasion of Britain. Others came to us in the middle ages, from the Norman Conquest. Others still did not arrive until the 19th century, often as part of an expanding scientific vocabulary. Referendum is one of those late arrivals, initially used to describe a vote on the Swiss constitution at that time. Both referendums and referenda are correct.

Of course it will all take time—  The population must be reassured,  The boundary must be surveyed,  There'll be royal commissions, referenda…. —Margaretta D’Arcy and John Arden, The Non-Stop Connolly Show: Part Six , 1978 quote here

Syllabuses & Syllabi

Definition : a summary outline of a discourse, treatise, or course of study or of examination requirements

Syllabus comes to English from the Latin sillybus , which actually has nothing to do with buses or silliness ( sillybus refers to a label for a book). Both forms of the plural are acceptable, although people might look askance at you if you use syllabi . 

Gymnasiums & Gymnasia

Definition : a large room used for various indoor sports (such as basketball or boxing) and usually equipped with gymnastic apparatus

Very few people use gymnasia as the plural of gymnasium anymore, but it can come in handy if you want to confuse people. And if you desire still more obscure information about this word, know that it can be traced to a Greek word meaning “to exercise naked” ( gymnazein ). The naked aspect of this word’s history has been largely set aside in English, although Nathan Bailey, in his 1727 Universal Etymological English Dictionary , defined the word gymnologize as “to dispute naked, or like an Indian Philosopher.”

"Had you rather witness the sports of the gymnasia than the works of artists?" inquired Plato. —Lydia Maria Francis Child, Philothea , 1836

Miasmas & Miasmata & Miasms

Definition : a vaporous exhalation formerly believed to cause disease

Most words have a single plural form, while others feel the need to have two. Others are more gluttonous still (such as octopus , the plural of which may be octopi , octopuses , or octopodes ), and require three different ways of pluralizing. Miasma is one of those triplets. So if you have more than one of these vaporous exhalations (and we hope you never do), they may be described as miasmas , miasmata , or miasms . 

Not a whit, fair sir—a cordial cup of sack, impregnated with wormwood is the best anti-pestilential draught; and, to speak the truth, the pestilential miasmata are now very rife in the atmosphere. —Anon., Mary of Scotland, or The Heir of Avenel , 1821

Terminuses & termini

Definition : either end of a transportation line or travel route

Given that the above two words are obscure variant plurals of a somewhat obscure singular form ( terminus ), it is quite unlikely that you will have need of distinguishing between them. But seeing as how the joy of unexpected knowledge is not regulated by need, we have included them anyway. You may use either terminuses or termini (but not terminusses ) with ferocious and joyful impunity.

Home from a world of late-liberal distraction  To rain and tenfoots clogged with leaves,  To the life's work of boredom and waiting,  The bus-station's just-closing teabar,  The icy, unpromising platforms of regional termini…. —Sean O’Brien, After Laforgue (from HMS Glasshouse), 1991

Memorandums & Memoranda

Definition : an informal record: also, a written reminder

Many usage guides have taken pains to warn their readers of a potential problem with the plural of memorandum . This is not whether or not to use memorandums or memoranda (either is fine), but rather to avoid using memorandas . Some words with similar Latinate endings in English will allow an a ending to take an s (such as agendas ), but memorandas is not among them.

But what does our proud Ign'rance Learning call,  We odly Plato 's Paradox make good,  Our Knowledge is but mere Remembrance all,  Remembrance is our Treasure and our Food;  Nature's fair Table-book our tender Souls  We scrawl all o'er with old and empty Rules,  Stale Memorandums of the Schools…. —Jonathan Swift, Ode to the Honorable Sir William Temple , c1689

Virtuosos & Virtuosi

Definition : one who excels in the technique of an art

Both virtuosos and virtuosi may be found as the plural form of virtuouso , although the former is more common than the latter. Virtuosi is also viewed by a number of usage guides as being overly pedantic, and many will recommend virtuosos instead. So if your desideratum (which is only pluralized as desiderata ) is to use the sort of words that usage guides think of as overly pedantic, well, then virtuosi is the word for you.

Those virtuosi who expend their amiable propensities in transfixing butterflies and impaling gnats would here find ample employment from May till November. —Caroline M. Kirkland, Forest Life , 1850

Appendices & Appendixes

Definition : supplementary material usually attached at the end of a piece of writing

Some people are of the opinion that when giving the plural of appendix one form is appropriate for certain contexts and not for others (stating, for instance, that appendices should be when referring to texts, and appendixes for non-textual things). We have a considerable body of written evidence indicating that these plurals are used interchangeably, so decide which one you are more comfortable with, and use it at will.

Modest Attire, and Meekness, signify  A Mind compos'd of Native Purity.  Needs no Appendices so to set forth  A Jewel of a more admired worth. —Mary Mollineux, Of Modesty (from Fruits of Retirement), 1702

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What this handout is about

This handout will help you write a syllabus, a document that describes the goals, policies, assignments, and materials that form a course. Here you can learn about elements commonly included on syllabi as well as a process for composing these documents.

But first: is it “syllabi” or “syllabuses”?

Many people are unsure about the correct plural form of “syllabus.” This handout will refer to “syllabus” in the plural as “syllabi” for the sake of consistency, but according to the Oxford English Dictionary “syllabuses” and “syllabi” are both accepted plural forms of the word.

Before you start writing the syllabus

Syllabi are arguably the most important documents for courses at the university level: a syllabus serves as a contract between the instructor and the students that establishes the expectations and trajectory of a course. Each syllabus that you create serves as evidence of your teaching philosophy and helps you communicate with current and future students and with colleagues in your field. As you write your syllabus, it can help to think about the larger pedagogical goals and context surrounding the course you will be teaching.

Identify the key elements of your course

First, before developing the goals and objectives, identify key elements of your course by asking yourself the following questions:

What kind of course am I going to be teaching? The goals and objectives for a 300-level class with a special focus on American Literature to 1865 will be quite different from a 100-level survey course on American literature from its beginnings to the present day. It can be helpful to read the catalog description of your course since that is what your future students will likely have read before enrolling.

Where can I find examples of syllabi for this course? Check with colleagues who have taught the course, and ask if you might look at their syllabi and talk with them about their experience teaching the course. You can also ask department administrators for examples of past syllabi (most departments keep records of syllabi developed for each course). Looking up syllabi for similar courses at other universities can also provide helpful inspiration.

What do my students know about the subject matter I’ll be teaching? Think about what your students may already know and what they do not know as you begin to plan your course. You can ask yourself the following questions:

• Are there any prerequisite courses that students need to take before taking this course? If so, how should this course build upon the knowledge my students already have?
• If I were a student about to take this course, what would I hope to learn about it on the first day of class?
• If you’ve taught this class before, ask yourself: What kind of student feedback have I received? Are there any changes I should consider making based on this feedback?

Develop the goals and objectives.

While it’s common to think of goals and objectives as synonymous, in this context you will want to differentiate between the two. While goals are more general and about what the class as a whole is intended to accomplish, objectives are key demonstrable actions that lead to the fulfillment of the larger goals for the course. In order to develop these key points, ask yourself the following questions:

What is the goal of the course? It can help to identify the larger goal for the course because this will inform your approach to crafting a unique syllabus. Aim for a goal that is clear and succinct.

What are specific objectives that students should meet by the end of the class, and how do those relate to the larger goal(s)? In addition to identifying key goals, think about what kinds of skills you want your students to be able to demonstrate by the end of the course. Do these objectives align with the goals you have set for the course? Try to use clear, strong verb choices that correlate with certain kinds of critical thinking skills. Bloom’s Taxonomy can be especially helpful to keep in mind as you connect key objectives and how students will demonstrate those objectives. (Vanderbilt University’s Center for Teaching has a helpful resource that explains this taxonomy, available here: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/. ) Do you want students to focus on remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, or creating? How will you assess the extent to which a student has reached an objective? For example, if a goal of the course is to understand the concept of natural selection, then you might state that students will be expected to explain the process of natural selection.

How will I organize my class in such a way that my students will demonstrate these key objectives, and how will I evaluate them? When developing your goals and objectives, think about how you will be able to design your class so that these are feasibly attained. Using the model of backward design can be helpful here as you move from the larger goals and objectives to the assignments and lessons of the class. (Vanderbilt University’s Center for Teaching has a helpful resource that further describes this process: https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/understanding-by-design/ .) If you realize that some of your goals and objectives may not be feasible in the given time or context, revise your list.

What readings and assignments will help my students reach those goals? Before you sit down to write the syllabus, it’s important to have a sense of the kinds of readings and assignments that will be important for the course, and why. When thinking about the readings you may want to assign, you might consider the following: length; level of difficulty/accessibility; how your students will engage with them; relevancy to the course goals; and availability and cost. When thinking about the assignments for your course, some elements to consider include: how they will engage students with course content; how they will give students the chance to demonstrate objectives set for the course; time required to complete; opportunities for feedback; time required to grade; appropriateness for students at that education level; and any specialized knowledge required to complete.

Reflect on your teaching philosophy

While many of us are familiar with teaching philosophy statements and put time and effort into these documents, it can sometimes be forgotten that, aside from observations and student evaluations, syllabi constitute the clearest evidence of your approach to teaching. Ask yourself the following questions:

What do I say about myself in my teaching philosophy statement? If you have a teaching statement , revisit this document and identify key points of your teaching philosophy. Reflect on these points, and think about whether you might want to change any of them. If you have not yet written a teaching statement, you might consider finding some example statements and trying to write your own.

Have I designed syllabi in the past with the same teaching philosophy? What worked well, what didn’t work so well, and why? Before sitting down to develop a syllabus for a course—whether it’s a course you’ve taught many times before or a course you have never taught—it can be helpful to look back on past syllabi that you have created and think about what worked well and what didn’t work so well. Consider how these syllabi were consistent with, or were not consistent with, your teaching philosophy.

Why do I follow the pedagogical approach that I do, and how can I make sure that’s evident in my syllabus design? As you reflect on this question, you might try brainstorming some ideas before you sit down to write the syllabus.

Writing the syllabus

Now that you’ve addressed the questions above, you’re ready to sit down and start writing your syllabus!

Include the key elements

UNC’s Office of Undergraduate Curricula provides some helpful guidelines for key information to include on your syllabus, and the Faculty Resolution on Syllabus Guidelines and Additional Syllabus Guidelines describe the essential components that every syllabus should have at UNC. Depending on the class, individual syllabi may follow different structures. The final order of information in a syllabus is subject to change depending on the class and the instructor; however, as you’re deciding on the order of information, you want to keep your students in mind and think about how you want them to be introduced to the course. Regardless of the structure you choose, generally all syllabi contain the following elements:

Basic course information. This includes the course name, number, and section number, and when and where the course meets.

Your name, your contact information, and your office location and office hours. It can be helpful to highlight how students should address you here as well.

Course description, goals, and objectives. This is the space where you introduce students to what this course is all about and what your students are expected to get out of the course. It can be helpful to separate the larger overall goals from the demonstrable objectives that students should meet by the end of the class.

Course materials and resources. Describe what materials and resources (hard copy or digital) students will need for the class and how they can access these materials; if there are optional materials and resources for the class, you should also include them in this section and make sure they are clearly labeled as such.

Course policies. This is the space where you detail different key policies as they pertain specifically to your course. These policies may include:

• Attendance policies (tardiness, absences, doctor’s notes, extenuating circumstances)
• Policies on missed or late assignments, tests, exams, quizzes, papers/essays, projects
• Policies on use of technological devices in class
• Evaluation and grading criteria
• Assignment grading breakdown
• Communication policies for the course (for example, a time-frame for responding to student emails)

When deciding on your policy towards student use of technology in class, consider why you are implementing that policy and the extent to which it will ultimately help your students. It can be helpful to plan your class as fully as possible and to then make decisions about your approach to student use of technology, since your approach will follow from the larger goals and objectives of the class. If you do decide to incorporate technology use in your course, it’s important to consider how technology can function differently for different students in the same class, particularly students with learning differences, and to invite students to talk with you about your technological policies.

University policies. Every university has slightly different policies. Include statements of all relevant policies as they pertain to your class. The most common policy areas include:

• The Honor Code and academic integrity
• Accessibility, documented disabilities, and accommodations
• Non-discrimination policies and Title IX

If there are other policies at your university that should be included, include those in this section.

Course assignments and calendar. While some instructors may choose to include a very detailed course calendar and schedule of assignments on their syllabus, others may choose to provide a minimalist calendar on the syllabus with more details elsewhere. Regardless of which option you choose, students should have a sense of what will happen in your course week-by-week, and they should know what the assignments are for the class and how they are weighted.

Evaluation/grading scale and method. Students must know how they will be evaluated in your course and how much each component/assignment of the class will be weighted. If participation is a part of the students’ grades, they should have a clear sense of what good participation looks like and how their participation will be graded.

Changes to syllabus. Since events can happen that require modifications to a course, it’s a good idea to include a statement that notes how you reserve the right to make changes to the syllabus if needed and that you will communicate such changes in advance.

Optional elements for syllabi. While the above elements are generally included in most syllabi, there are other elements that instructors may choose to include or not, depending on their course.

Tips and advice for succeeding in the course. This is a helpful section to include if you feel that it might further reinforce the expectations you have set for the class in the course description section; it can also be helpful to include this information if students are likely to have not had any prior experience with the subject matter of your course.

Learning resources on campus. Oftentimes students are not aware of the different learning resources on their campus. If you feel that certain campus learning resources might be particularly useful for your students, list them on your syllabus and encourage your students to use them. Examples of these resources are your institution’s library system and writing and learning centers.

Student wellness resources on campus. As with learning resources on campus, oftentimes students are not aware of resources on campus that can help them with challenges they’re facing in their personal lives (which can ultimately affect their performance in their coursework). Including information about mental health resources, for example, can be greatly helpful to students who may not know about such resources and who are struggling.

Teaching philosophy. Some teachers may describe their teaching philosophy in a separate section on their syllabus. Ideally, your teaching philosophy and your syllabus will inform one another and be consistent with each other, but you also have the option of telling your students explicitly about your philosophy in cases where it may help them understand your approach to a course.

Revising the syllabus

Once you’ve completed a full draft of your syllabus, give yourself enough time to receive and incorporate feedback from colleagues and revise it after the initial draft. Here are some suggestions for the revision process:

Get others’ perspectives

It can be very helpful to get an outside perspective on your syllabus from others who are also working on their own syllabi and/or who have written syllabi in the past. Returning the favor by providing feedback on your peers’ syllabi-in-progress can also help you approach your own syllabus with a fresh perspective.

Don’t overlook opportunities to get feedback from people who are not working on writing their own syllabus, such as a friend, family member, or coaches at the Writing Center. Regardless of whom you approach for feedback, it can be helpful to provide your reader with your specific concerns and questions that you may have for them. Our handout on getting feedback lists some suggestions for getting helpful feedback from others.

Imagine yourself as the student

Imagining that you are one of the students who will be taking your course can help you identify elements that perhaps need more clarification or are missing information. Remember that the students who have enrolled in your class do not know, aside from any general course catalog information provided, what to expect out of your course until they read your syllabus! Try creating a list of questions that students might have either before or after reading your draft and then seeing how you might answer those questions in your revisions.

Try a new revision strategy

Sometimes a new revision strategy can help you see your writing from a different perspective, which can be especially useful for a document like a syllabus, since you have your own internal vision of what your course will look like (and which may, perhaps, not be fully communicated on the page to your students!). There are many different kinds of revision strategies, but reverse outlining , reading aloud , and even webbing or drawing out how all of the different components work together are useful strategies that can help you see your syllabus through a new lens.

Go through the list

When revising your syllabus, it can be helpful to address certain key questions to ensure that your syllabus is as clear and effective as possible and that it follows clearly from your own approach to teaching. Here’s a helpful list:

• Have I included all of the necessary elements stipulated by my university and/or department?
• Do I clearly state the objectives and goals of the course?
• Is my syllabus feasible in its scope and expectations?
• Do I establish my overall expectations clearly?
• Is my assessment method clear to my students?
• Do I provide helpful resources for my students?
• Do my students know what kinds of assignments will be expected of them, and when?

Once you’ve finished the syllabus

Congratulations on finishing this important document! Once you’ve written your syllabus and taught the class, you should reflect on how well it worked, and any changes or revisions you might make should you teach the same course again. It can also be helpful to transfer these reflections to any other courses you might teach and to use your experience with a syllabus as a learning opportunity for yourself as an instructor.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Armstrong, Patricia. 2020. “Bloom’s Taxonomy.” Center for Teaching. Vanderbilt University. Accessed November 1, 2020. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/ .

Bowen, Ryan S. 2017. “Understanding by Design.” Center for Teaching. Vanderbilt University. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/understanding-by-design/ .

Stanford University. “Creating a Syllabus.” Stanford Teaching Commons, https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/resources/course-preparation-resources/creating-syllabus. Accessed 9 July 2009.

Harvard University. n.d. “Designing Your Course.” The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. Accessed 1 July 2019. https://bokcenter.harvard.edu/designing-your-course .

Harvard University. n.d. “On Learning Goals and Objectives.” The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. Accessed 1 July 2019.

Reynolds, Heather L., and Katherine Dowell Kearns. 2016. “A Planning Tool for Incorporating Backward Design, Active Learning, and Authentic Assessment in the College Classroom.” College Teaching 65 (1): 17–27. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2016.1222575 .

Stowell, Jeffrey R., et al. 2018. “Effects of Classroom Technology Policies on Students’ Perceptions of Instructors: What Is Your Syllabus Saying about You?” College Teaching 66 (2): 98–103. https://doi.org/10.1080/87567555.2018.1437533 .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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