What is a plural of "To-Do"? "To-Dos" or "To-Does"?

Question

Say I have a list of "To-Do" things. I want to mention them to someone, so I doubt on how to call it:

1. I have many "To-Dos" for today
2. I have many "To-Does" for today
3. I have many "To-Do's" for today

None of them looks fine to me, but I don't know how to check it out.

Alternately, you can use "to-do" as an adjective: "I have a long "to-do" list for today. — Andrew, Sep 29 '16 at 15:48
@Andrew Exactly my thought, except for I think I might not use for. — Damkerng T., Sep 29 '16 at 15:54

Em. · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-30T03:45:42.267

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In special cases, such as when forming a plural of a word that is not normally a noun, some writers add an apostrophe for clarity.

Example: Here are some do's and don'ts.

In that sentence, the verb do is used as a plural noun, and the apostrophe was added because the writer felt that dos was confusing. Not all writers agree; some see no problem with dos and don'ts. (Source.)

So I can imagine that many would say to-do's is ok. to-does doesn't seem right, though I can't explicitly exclude it.

However, according to the Free Dictionary [1] and Merriam-Webster [2], the plural form is

to–dos

The original question asks for the plural of to-do, but OP's given examples might sound funny or odd. Instead, you could say "I have a long to-do list" or "I have many things on my to-do list", for starters.

_{Speaking of lists, you could also say "I have a laundry list of things to do", though this is an aside :)}

edited Sep 30 '16 at 03:45

answered Sep 29 '16 at 15:55

Em.

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"To-does" is almost like a pun or a joke: "I had a long 'to-do' list, but I procrastinated so long it's now a 'to-does" list ..." – Andrew Sep 29 '16 at 16:07
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@Andrew "to-didn'ts" would fit better in the punchline IMO – Sep 30 '16 at 00:39
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@QPaysTaxes yeah now that I re-read it, I'm glad I don't work in comedy :) – Andrew Sep 30 '16 at 00:49
@Andrew well, that was bad :D I would almost read "to-does" as the third person of the verb "do", so it would be like a "to-do" that someone else does. – Pierre Arlaud Sep 30 '16 at 08:17

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 29 '16 at 15:46

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I wouldn't use the second one, since the second part looks like "many female deer (does)", or simply the English word "does" as in "he does the dishes".

And I dislike seeing apostrophes to indicate plurals - but they are accepted in rare circumstances.

That only leaves the first one: "To-Dos".

answered Sep 29 '16 at 15:46

John Burger

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+1'd Thank you for showing how to capitalize that word, to-dos => To-Dos. – Nabil Kadimi Dec 02 '16 at 18:14

Kevin · Answer 3 · 2016-09-30T11:20:47.567

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I would skip all of that and just say "I have a lot to do today" or "I have a lot on my to-do list".

Google NGram shows "to-do list" beating the other options by a wide margin. If you really want to go with one of them, to-dos is the most common, then to-do's, with to-does being dead last.

edited Sep 30 '16 at 11:20

answered Sep 30 '16 at 02:03

Kevin

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@Mari-LouA Fixed the link – Kevin Sep 30 '16 at 11:21
Hi, perhaps narrowing down the search from 1970 is more relevant https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=to-dos%2Cto-do%27s%2Cto-do+list%2Cto+-+does&year_start=1970&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cto%20-%20dos%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cto%20-%20do%20%27s%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cto%20-%20do%20list%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cto%20--%20does%3B%2Cc0, i – Mari-Lou A Sep 30 '16 at 11:25

score 1 · Answer 4 · edited Apr 13 '20 at 12:53

A distinction should be made between many items on a single to-do list or many to-do lists. Additionally, to-do is the adjective describing the type of list. The noun "list" is often understood and omitted.

If you want to pluralise or emphasize the number of tasks then I would suggest something like:

I have many tasks (or items) on my to-do list today. (more formal), or
I have a long to-do list today. (more informal and the noun "list" is still typically used)

but for numerous lists, I would say:

I have a several to-do lists to complete today.

... and for a maximized workload of many tasks on many lists:

I have a lot of tasks on my to-do lists today.

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 29 '16 at 15:45

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The plural of To-Do is To-Dos. So the correct usage would be

I have many To-Dos for today

answered Sep 29 '16 at 15:45

Mini Bhati

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Welcome to ELL. You should include your reasoning or justification for your answer, otherwise it's just your opinion. A dictionary entry, examples of real-world usage, or statistics would make this a good answer. – 200_success Sep 29 '16 at 21:57

What is a plural of "To-Do"? "To-Dos" or "To-Does"?

5 Answers5