Does Wordle Use Plurals or the Past Tense?

If you want to increase your chances of winning Wordle, you’ll need to know which types of words count as valid Wordle answers.

For example, are plurals used as answers in Wordle? What about past tense verbs?

Wordle follows very specific rules for what kinds of words it will use as answers. The dictionary of valid answers excludes plural nouns that end in S or ES as well as past tense verbs that end in ED.

Read on to learn more about Wordle’s valid answers so you can optimize your guessing strategy.

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Are There Plurals in Wordle?

All plural nouns are accepted as valid Wordle guesses, but plural nouns that end in S or ES aren’t used as answers.

To understand why, we need to talk about the rules of this popular word guessing game.

Wordle has a dictionary of around 2,000 five-letter words that might be used as the word of the day. There’s also a much larger dictionary of around 10,000 words that are accepted as valid guess words.

The fact that Wordle doesn’t use the same basic dictionary for everything might seem confusing, but their reasoning makes sense if you think about how the game works.

There are times when it’s helpful to be allowed to guess rare or obsolete words, like SOARE, because those words might include all the letters you need to guess. On the other hand, you might be upset if the answer of the day turned out to be an obsolete word because it’s difficult to win with a word you don’t already know.

That’s why Wordle has two word lists—a small list of possible answers that are fairly common words and a larger list of possible guesses that might be useful for your strategy.

When it comes to the guesses you’re allowed to try, all plurals are acceptable. However, the answer list doesn’t include the plural forms of any three-letter words or four-letter words that end in the letters S or ES.

That means that words like WOMEN, FUNGI, and GEESE might be valid Wordle answers even though they’re plural nouns. On the other hand, SHOES, BIKES, and RINGS won’t be used as answer words because they end in S or ES.

Does Wordle Use Past Tense?

Wordle’s policy for past tense verbs is similar to its policy for plural nouns.

All past tense verbs are allowed as guesses, but the rules for valid answers are stricter than the rules for valid guesses. No past tense verbs ending in ED are allowed as answers.

Many past tense verbs that don’t end in ED have been used as Wordle answers before. For example, the words FOUND, WRUNG, DWELT, LEAPT, and BROKE have all been Wordle answers in the past, just to name a few.  

Is Wordle Always a Noun?

There are no rules about what part of speech a Wordle answer can be, except that it can’t be a proper noun.

Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions can be used as Wordle answers, as long as it’s a five-letter word.

Can Wordle Be a Verb?

Many Wordle answers are verbs. Some examples of verbs that have been Wordle answers in the past include SMASH, UNTIE, HURRY, DEBUG, and SQUAT.

Here’s a quick recap of the rules we’ve discussed in this article:

• Wordle answers can be plural nouns, but not if they end in S or ES.

• Wordle answers can be past tense verbs, but not if they end in ED.

• Plural nouns and past tense words can be used as Wordle guesses even if they aren’t valid Wordle answers.

Good luck, and happy playing!