The Plural of Email - Emails?

Question

I debated with my peers that we can use the word **emails** when referring to more than one and it would be grammatically right.> But most of them said since we don't say we received **mails** today, similarly we won't say we received **emails** .Quick advice please.

Answer 1

This is quite an interesting debate. It is important to note that usage of the words email and emails don't always match with the grammatically correct usage. Email isn't a countable noun which means it doesn't have a grammatically correct plural conjugation. Instead, it refers to a mass collection of electronic mail and needs a countable noun to refer to more than one email; this commonly becomes a phrase such as "email messages". With that said, it is commonly used to refer to a singular electronic mail as well as a collection of electronic mail. In day to day speech it isn't uncommon to hear someone use "emails". Due to the language evolving, this terminology is growing more acceptable in every day speech. My advice is to avoid using "emails" in writing or to specifically ask your instructor of their preference but it's okay to use in day-to-day conversations.

I hope that answers your question and potentially clears up some confusion. Reach out if you have any further questions!

Answer 2

It's true that we don't say "I received mails today," but we also don't talking about receiving a singular "mail". (We'd say letter or message instead.) By contrast, since the use of the term "email" for an individual message is accepted, it is perfectly natural to pluralize that to speak of multiple "emails". Of course, "email" can also refer to a quantity of electronic messages, in the same way that "mail" refers to a quantity of physical letters. The distinction is between count and noncount, both of which may be used in the appropriate context.