Is there a plural of "tardy"?

Question

A reader asked, "What is the plural of tardy?"

Answer

The short answer to this question is tardies. But wait! Before you use the plural, read on…

Noun or adjective?

Make sure that you are using tardy as a noun, because this is rare; tardy is almost always used as an adjective meaning “late." And as an adjective, tardy has no plural form, because adjectives in English stay the same regardless of whether the noun they modify is singular or plural. In the three examples below, tardy is an adjective.

• Jennifer was tardy for work almost every day. (tardy is an adjective modifying the singular noun, Jennifer)
• The accountant was tardy in filing their taxes. (tardy is an adjective modifying the singular noun, accountant)
• The tardy bells ring twice during the school day. (tardy is an adjective modifying the plural noun bells)

In those rare instances when tardy is used as a noun, it means “an instance of being tardy,” as in the example below.

• The professor told the class that only one absence and one tardy was allowed per semester.

The plural of nouns ending in consonant + y

To form the plural of the noun tardy, follow the general rule for nouns ending in consonant + y:  Delete the y and add -ies, as shown in the examples below.

Sing.      Plural

baby     babies
tardy     tardies

I hope this helps.