Hooves and Hoofs Are Both Correct
Hooves are the horny feet of certain animals. English allows two plurals, and neither is wrong.
Hooves are the hard coverings on the feet of horses, cattle and related animals. The plural is genuinely optional: *hooves* and *hoofs* are both standard, as are *roofs* and the rarer *rooves*, and *dwarfs* and *dwarves*. The F-to-V change is an old pattern that English applied inconsistently and then stopped applying at all.
- The horny feet of animals. *Cloven hooves.*
- Hoof — the singular. *A cracked hoof.*
- On the hoof — improvised. *Deciding on the hoof.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | hoof | A front hoof. |
| Plural | hooves | Four hooves. |
| Plural | hoofs | Also correct. |
| Adjective | hoofed | Hoofed animals. |
| Related | ungulate | An ungulate mammal. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Cattle have cloven hooves.Split into two toes.
- We decided on the hoof.Improvised.
- Ungulate means hoofed.From Latin *ungula*, a hoof.
F and V plurals
- Always V — knives, wives, leaves, thieves
- Always F — roofs, chiefs, beliefs, cliffs
- Either — hooves or hoofs, dwarfs or dwarves
- Dwarves — popularised by Tolkien, who preferred it
- Origin — an Old English sound change applied between vowels
From Old English *hof*, of Germanic origin. The V plural comes from a sound change that voiced F between vowels.
Hooves or hoofs?
Both are correct. Hooves is more common in British English, hoofs slightly more so in technical writing.
Why dwarves rather than dwarfs?
Dwarfs is the older standard plural. Tolkien preferred dwarves and used it deliberately, and his usage became widespread.