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ESL forum >
Ask for help > Potato or potatoe?
Potato or potatoe?
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Katia del Pilar
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Potato or potatoe?
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I�ve always known that potato is the singular noun and potatoes, the plural one. But, today someone mentioned the use of potatoe as a singular noun!!! Is it possible? Does it exist? I looked up the word in some dictionaries, but I couldn�t find it.
Can you help me with that doubt, please?
Thanks in advance,
Katia |
26 Jun 2009
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lgk1000
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Hi Katia,
The correct spelling is potato (without the e). I looked it up just to be sure and from what I could find, it used to be possible to spell it with an E in the 19th century, but that is no longer an acceptable practice.
Hope this was helpful!
Leila |
26 Jun 2009
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Katia del Pilar
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Thanks Leila.
I just wanted to be sure!
There were two teachers who told me it was possible, and to be sincere I had the doubt even though I had never used it with an E at the end.
Regards from Peru,
Katia |
26 Jun 2009
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roneydirt
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I believe the e gets added by mistake because the o is a strong o sound which usually in the English language is a double vowel. Plus to add to the confushion when you want to make it plural you add es at the end. Same with tomato. |
26 Jun 2009
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crazy_turtle
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The singular spelling variants "potato" vs. "potatoe" co-existed
into the 19th century. In the 20th century "potato" came to be
considered the correct singular, and "potatoe" considered a
misspelling. The plural remains "potatoes �".
Vice President of the United States Dan Quayle became notoriously associated with this misspelling in a June 15, 1992 incident. Quayle went to a photo op at Munoz Rivera School in Trenton, New Jersey,
where he was to officiate a spelling bee by drawing flash cards and
asking students to write the words on the blackboard. Twelve-year-old
William Figueroa wrote potato, but Quayle prompted him to append an "e" which, according to Quayle �s 1995 autobiography Standing Firm, was the spelling on the flash card.This incident occurred even though Quayle had inquired about the
validity of the incorrectly manufactured flash cards with event staff
and had the tacit approval of the event �s onlookers.The incident made national news in the United States and became a source of entertainment for the tabloid newspapers in the United Kingdom. For the June 25, 1992 rerun of The Simpsons episode "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish", Bart Simpson �s opening chalkboard gag was hastily changed to read, "It �s potato, not potatoe." This was also the cause of a Saturday Night Live episode "Mr. Casual Sex", in which Rob Schneider launches into a tirade against Quayle by saying that he is not qualified to discuss family values as he cannot properly spell potato.
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26 Jun 2009
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Homeless Turtle
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English is such an interesting language...
Here �s yet another alternative spelling of potato:
- If gh is pronounced p as in hiccough
- If ough is pronounced o as in dough
- If phth is pronounced t as in phthisis
- If eigh is pronounced a as in neighbour
- If tte is pronounced t as in gazette
- If eau is pronounced o as in beau
- Then the correct way to spell potato should be ghoughphtheightteeau
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26 Jun 2009
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naj07
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Thank you crazy turtle for this expos� this is what I like in this site we start from small things and we learn many things from each other. very interesting thank you again. |
26 Jun 2009
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douglas
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I always use the Dan Quayle story when I am teaching plurals--my students love it.
And George-very interesting  |
26 Jun 2009
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