Ninja(s)?

[toachung]

Is the plural of ninja ninja or ninjas?

For example:

The ninja attacked from all four sides.

Or,

The ninjas attacked from all four sides.

I've been wondering... I think about these things sometimes.... Yeah. What do you think. Personally I like the way the former one sounds.

P.S. How do you make a poll? No one has told me....  

[Niccea Majeare]

I actually don't know. I could have sworn I heard it both ways.

'Cause when they talk about "the way of the ninja" I don't think they are talking about one ninja.  

[Psychotic Daizy Dukes]

I think it's both. They are interchangeable.  

[Amaya84]

Nina Orusa

I think it's both. They are interchangeable.

I've heard it both ways, so I agree with Nina. Also, when you create a thread you can scroll to the bottom of your screen. There you should find the options to create a poll.  

[davids_buddy_type_thing]

Actually, I've never heard it any other way than ninja.  

[NinpoLore]

Technically, ninja is the proper word. It is both singular and plural. Sort of like "sheep" and "fish" and "deer". It denotes a single shinobi, or a clan of shinobi.

"The ninja was well trained in his art."

"The group of ninja were expert guerilla fighters."

I'm not sure why this is the case - I just know it because I'm sort of obsessed with ninjutsu.  

[etoosa]

"I am ninja, he is ninja, she is ninja, too!
I am ninja, we are ninja, and I believe that you are ninja, too!"

Ask A Ninja told me the answer. ^-^
However, I think "ninjas" sounds better when used as the subject of a sentence- just a thought.  

[[FlyingPigKnockout]]

Hmmm... It's like "man" - "Man was shaped in his own image" in the Bible (or something similar >w<), yet the plural of man is men.

I guess it's the same thing. It can be used either way I guess x3 (Though wikipedia says it's ninja xDD)

 

[-x x kyoxtohru x x-]

I've heard it used interchangably as well.
"The way of the ninja" sounds better than "The way of the ninjas," don't you think?

 

[Galad Aglaron]

It's "ninja". It's a Japanese word. We don't put "s" on the end to signify plurality unless we're mixing languages, which isn't at all professional.

The samurai, not the samurais.
The ninja, not the ninjas.
The manga, not the mangas.
The katana, not the katanas.