What is the plural of espresso?

#1: Post by **mathof** » April 29th, 2015, 4:10 am

I noticed a post in the Cafes section that reads in part:

I've ordered espressi in cafes in the Philippines, Durham NC, NYC, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen (Gee coffee roasters)...this is the best espresso I've had.

Espressi sounds unnatural in English and unusual in Italian. (In Italy, if you want, say, two cups of espresso, you order "due caffè espresso" ("espresso" in this instance is an adjective modifying "caffè", which is both the singular and plural noun for "coffee"). In fact, "due caffè espresso" is usually shortened to "due caffè", as a single espresso is what Italians think of as a cup of coffee.)

My conclusion, for what it's worth, is that when speaking English, espressos is the plural of espresso.

Matt

#2: Post by **kwantfm** » April 29th, 2015, 5:31 am

Looks like a brief Google search is in agreement with you.

#3: Post by **TheJavaCup77** » April 29th, 2015, 5:59 am

Spro's ???

Just my 2 cents

#4: Post by **LukeFlynn** » April 29th, 2015, 8:08 am

I've always seen a double shot as a standard espresso.. The only "cafe" I've ever been to that sold single espressos was starbucks.. all of the true independent cafes I go to just give you a double shot.

#5: Post by **Marcelnl** » April 29th, 2015, 8:29 am

In Italy and most places where I have ordered espresso a single is the standard, although I agree that a double is a good place to start

Always the number of doppio's to indicate how many I want when ordering.

#6: Post by HB » April 29th, 2015, 8:40 am

The four online references I checked all agree the plural of espresso is espressos: dictionary.com, thefreedictionary.com, merriam-webster.com, and oxforddictionaries.com.

#7: Post by **Gig103** » April 29th, 2015, 11:56 am

I had to think about it because using it as "espresso" in both singular and plural would work in my opinion too. But yes espressos is the plural.

#8: Post by **kaldi61** » April 29th, 2015, 4:30 pm

The plural of espresso is 'espresso'

Just like the plural of bagel is 'bagel'.

When using a foreign language word in English it is preferable to use the plurality rule of the original language. I believe the term is 'foreign plural' and it's a bit more of classic approach.

#9: Post by HB » April 29th, 2015, 5:07 pm

kaldi61 wrote:Just like the plural of bagel is 'bagel'.

Really? Won't Bruegger's Bagels be surprised to learn they've had it wrong all these years.

#10: Post by **kaldi61** » April 29th, 2015, 5:20 pm

There's all sorts of 'wrong' in the world. Is it wrong to drink a cappuccino in the evening? Some would say so, while others would say we're not in Italy.

I'm not actually saying Brueggers is wrong. The fact that they happen to be wrong is pure coincidence.