What Is the Plural of Crisis? Crisis or Crises Explained

The plural of crisis is crises. Use crisis for one serious or difficult situation and crises for two or more.

• The company is facing a financial crisis.
• The company has survived several financial crises.

Forms such as crisises and crisis’s are sometimes mistaken for the plural, but only crises means more than one crisis.

What Is the Plural of Crisis?

Crises is the correct plural form of crisis. The ending changes from -is to -es.

Form	Meaning	Example
Crisis	One difficult or dangerous situation	The shortage caused a national crisis.
Crises	Two or more difficult or dangerous situations	The country has faced several crises.

Crisises is not a standard English word. You cannot make crisis plural by simply adding -es to the complete singular form.

Why Does Crisis Become Crises?

Like several English nouns with Greek roots, crisis forms its plural by changing -is to -es.

Other familiar words follow the same pattern:

Singular	Plural
crisis	crises
analysis	analyses
basis	bases
diagnosis	diagnoses
hypothesis	hypotheses
thesis	theses

A simple way to remember the forms is to learn them as a pair: one crisis, several crises.

How to Pronounce Crisis and Crises

The ending changes in pronunciation as well as spelling:

• Crisis is pronounced “KRY-sis.”
• Crises is pronounced “KRY-seez.”

The first syllable sounds the same in both words. The difference is in the final syllable: -sis in the singular and -seez in the plural.

Compare the two forms in this sentence:

One crisis can sometimes lead to several crises.

The Cambridge Dictionary pronunciation of crises also shows the final “seez” sound.

Crisis vs. Crises: When to Use Each

Use crisis when discussing one situation and crises when discussing more than one.

Use Crisis for One Situation

The singular form commonly appears after words such as a, one, another, and each.

• The hospital prepared for a staffing crisis.
• She asked her family for help during a personal crisis.
• Another political crisis could delay the election.

Use Crises for More Than One Situation

The plural form commonly appears after words such as two, many, several, and different.

• The organization responds to humanitarian crises.
• Several economic crises affected the region.
• The two crises had different causes.

Is Crisis’s the Plural of Crisis?

No. Crisis’s is a possessive form, not a plural. It shows that something belongs to or is connected with one crisis.

• Plural: The crises affected several industries.
• Possessive: The crisis’s effects lasted for months.

The plural possessive form is crises’, with the apostrophe placed after the final s:

The crises’ long-term effects were difficult to measure.

The four forms have different uses:

Form	Use	Example
crisis	Singular	The crisis ended.
crises	Plural	The crises ended.
crisis’s	Singular possessive	The crisis’s cause was unclear.
crises’	Plural possessive	The crises’ causes were investigated.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Using Crisises as the Plural

Crisises is incorrect. Replace the -is ending with -es.

• Incorrect: The country experienced several crisises.
• Correct: The country experienced several crises.

Adding an Apostrophe to Make the Word Plural

An apostrophe shows possession. It does not turn a singular noun into a plural.

• Incorrect: The two crisis’s happened years apart.
• Correct: The two crises happened years apart.

Using a Singular Verb with Crises

Because crises is plural, it normally takes a plural verb such as are, were, or have.

• Incorrect: These crises is becoming more serious.
• Correct: These crises are becoming more serious.
• Incorrect: Several crises has affected the region.
• Correct: Several crises have affected the region.

Examples of Crisis and Crises in Sentences

1. The sudden closure created a childcare crisis for local families.
2. The government introduced new measures during the housing crisis.
3. The company hired an adviser to manage the public relations crisis.
4. The charity works in areas affected by humanitarian crises.
5. Past financial crises changed the way banks manage risk.
6. The team handled two separate crises in one week.

Final Summary

The plural of crisis is crises, pronounced “KRY-seez.” Use crisis for one difficult situation and crises for two or more. Neither crisises nor crisis’s is the plural form.