How Come Specie is Not the Species Singular Form

The two words “specie” and “species” are nouns that appear to be just the same, with one being the other’s singular, but they have distinct meanings.

Typically, “species” is used by scientists to imply the lowest taxonomy rank in the hierarchies of biological classification. It’s a class of organisms exhibiting common attributes.

On the other hand, “specie” is a thing, hard currency or money. So, “species” is an independent word used as both a singular noun and a plural noun. The normal rule you must do to make a noun plural is to add an “s” to the end. However, if you apply this rule to “specie,” it will mean something different, “one of.”

The singular form of species

“Species” is a Latin word and exists as both singular and plural in that language. In most cases, when we use species as a singular noun (“a species”), it’s often followed by a singular noun.

Example

There is a species of fungus that grows in our forest.

Subsequently, we can use “species” in singular like for example,

The female of this species helps the male teach the young how to hunt.

The plural of species

The plural form of species is species! It doesn’t change. In sentences, verbs always agree with the subject. For words without variations in their singular and plural forms, such as species, subject-verb agreement is always imperative. When you learn English online, your tutor will be able to dive deeper into this topic and show more words that do not change their forms in plurality.

Example

Singular: This species is on the edge of extinction.

Plural: These species are on the edge of extinction.

“Specie” isn’t the singular form of species. The “s” at the end of the word species doesn’t make it the plural form of “specie.” They are two separate words, although they tend to share a common root word related to “kind.”

Examples of using “species”