Plural of Dice | Definition & Examples

Dice, pronounced [dahys], is the plural form of the noun die, pronounced [dahy]. It refers to a small cube with numbered sides that typically range from one to six and is most often used to play games.

It’s a somewhat common misconception that the word dice is singular and has a plural form. The fact is that dice is the plural form, and the singular form is die.

Is “dice” plural or singular?

Grammatically speaking, the word dice is always plural. However, many English speakers use the word “dice” in informal contexts—such as when playing a board game—to mean both a singular die and two or more dice.

For clarity, it’s best to use die when referring to one die and dice when referring to two or more dice.

Why “dices” and “dies” are incorrect

Dices and dies are both words, but neither is the plural form of “die,” the six-sided cubes you roll when playing a board game.

Dice is an irregular plural noun, which means you don’t simply add “-s” or “-es” to the end of the singular form. In other words, taking the singular “die” and adding an “-s” to form dies or adding an “-es” to form dices are both incorrect.

“Dices” is the third-person singular form of the verb “to dice,” which means to cut something into small cubes, most often in the context of cooking. “Dies” is the third-person singular present tense of the verb “to die,” meaning something or someone’s life has ended.

What is an irregular plural?

“Dice” is an irregular plural noun that doesn’t follow regular pluralization rules.

Regular pluralization rules state that you create the plural form of the singular form by adding “-s” or “-es” to the end of the word (e.g., car/cars and house/houses). Because “die” is the singular form, if it did follow regular pluralization rules, the plural form would be “dies,” but it is not. Obviously, “dies” is a word, but it is not the correct word in this context.

Irregular plurals instead follow different plural rules. For example, Greek-derived words often change the “-is” ending of the singular form to an “-es” ending in the plural (e.g., axis/axes). Many Latin-derived words tend to change the “-us” to “-i” (e.g., alumnus/alumni) or “-um” to “-a” (e.g., datum/data).

There are other irregular plurals that come from other origins, like Old English or other linguistic origins.

There’s another type of irregular plural called zero plurals. A zero plural is a word that remains the same in both the singular and plural forms.

Frequently asked questions about the plural of dice

Is “dice” plural or singular?

Dice is the plural form of the word die, which is singular. Some people wonder what the plural of dice is without realizing that “dice” is, in fact, already the plural of “die,” which is singular.

“Dice” is an irregular plural noun that doesn’t follow regular pluralization rules of simply adding “-s” or “-es” to the end of the singular form, which is why “dies” and “dices” are incorrect.

Use Scribbr’s free Grammar Checker to ensure you always use the correct form in your writing.

Is “dices” a word?

Dices is a word, but it’s neither the correct plural of dice nor die. Dices is the third-person singular form of the verb “to dice,” which means to cut something into small cubes, most often in the context of cooking.

Dice is the correct plural form of the singular word die.

Use Scribbr’s free Grammar Checker to ensure you always use the correct form in your writing.