Is ‘status quo’ pluralized ‘statuses quo’ or ‘status quos’ ... ?

Question

Since ‘status’ is pluralized ‘statuses’, I thought, following the same logic, ‘status quo’ is pluralized ‘statuses quo’. If it isn’t, what is ‘status quo’’s proper plural, and why is it so?

JohnParis · Accepted Answer

Provide a sentence wherein you use the plural of status quo.

John

Anonymous · Answer

The following are some examples:

‘The statuses quo/status quos (?) of the previous administrations differed from that of the current administration.’

‘Right now, countries around the world have different statuses quo/status quos (?).’

Also, does using the doubly pluralized ‘statuses quos’ make a difference? If so, how?

Anonymous · Answer

I see I accidently sent the examples twice.

<note by moderator: duplicate post removed>

JohnParis · Answer

Thank you for your examples - it's "status quos" for both.

The status quos of previous administrations differ from those of the current administration.

Right now, countries around the world have different status quos. To me, this sentence makes little sense and I would use completely different vocabulary. It is, however, grammatically correct.

Status is not pluralized; only quo.

Today, I learned that status quo ante means "the previously existing state of affairs."

The status quo ante of previous administrations differ from those of the current administration. I believe that status quo ante is both singular and plural because it is an uncountable noun such as "information" or "advice." Personally, I have never heard "status quo ante" used, and is was only in researching an answer for you that I came upon the phrase. My Microsoft Word grammar corrector indicates that “ante” could be pluralized (antes) in the sentence above, but I cannot accept this as a real option. It simply does not feel right.

Having said all that, I would hope that some colleagues will now weigh-in with their comments.

John

Clive · Answer

Hi,

If I had to use a plural, I'd probably say 'status quos', because the phrase 'staus quo' is so well established that it 'feels' like one word.

However, sentences that use plural references to this just don't seem quite right to me.

eg The status quo means 'the current state of affairs'. It just doesn't sound right to me to to speak of 'the previous current . . . . '.

I'd try to reword.

eg Countries around the world each have a different status quo.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

I still see not how 'status quos' makes sense versus 'statuses quo'. After all, when 'status quo' is pluralized, one refers to multiple states of affairs (statuses quo), not the state of affairss. Pluralizing the already plural 'affairs' part makes no sense to me.

Likewise, 'passer-by' is pluralized 'passers-by' as opposed to 'passer-bys', since 'passer-by''s plural is supposed to refer to multiple people, not multiple bys. Also, 'MP', a Member of Parliament, in its plural form, 'MPs', refers to Members of Parliament, not Member of Parliaments.

Is ‘status quo’ pluralized ‘statuses quo’ or ‘status quos’ ... ?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions