factually
Index/Organizations/English Language & Usage

English Language & Usage

Stack Exchange site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts

Fact-Checks

2 results
Dec 6, 2025
Most Viewed

why is the plural of woman Wimen and not Women

The modern singular "woman" and plural "women" come from Old English compounds: singular wīfmann (wife + person) and plural wīfmen — the vowel change in the plural is an inherited sound-change, not a ...

Jan 1, 2026

Is?

The single-word question "Is?" reduces to a request for the meaning and grammatical role of the word "is": across standard dictionaries and usage guides, "is" is the third-person singular present tens...