Calfs vs. Calves

English language can be very confusing when it comes to certain words and their singular and plural forms. Sometimes to convert the word in plural only takes putting an s at the end of the word; book becomes books, phone becomes phones. However, that is not always the case as we look at the pair of words being discussed in this article today; Calf and calves.

Origin:

Calf originated from Old English cælf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch kalf and German Kalb. Calf also originated from Middle English: from Old Norse kálfi, of unknown origin.

Calf as noun:

Calf is a noun which means a young bovine animal, especially a domestic cow or bull in its first year.

Calf is also used as a noun to describe the fleshy part at the back of a person's leg below the knee.

Use of calves:

Calves is the plural form of the word calf. It is a noun that is used to refer to either a baby animal or the lower part of leg, under the knee.

Use of calfs:

To make the word calf into a plural, calfs is not the correct way like it is usually used according to the English language rules. However, for calf’s plural calves is used which is an exception to that rule like numerous other words, just like knife becomes knives.

Examples:

Calves or calfs:

Calf is the singular of the word while calves is the plural for the same word. It refers to the lower part of the leg, under the thigh or a baby of some mammals.