There were a lot of mice in the barn. vs There were a lot of mouses in the barn.

The correct phrase is 'there were a lot of mice in the barn.' The word 'mice' is the plural form of 'mouse' when referring to the small rodent. 'Mouses' is incorrect.

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Editor at TextRanch

Last updated: March 07, 2025 • 5325 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"There were a lot of mice in the barn."

Use 'mice' as the plural form of 'mouse' when referring to the small rodent. It is used to indicate more than one of these animals.

Show examples from the web [+]

We're doing it in mice first, and we will kill a lot of mice in the process of doing this, but they will die for a good cause.
and we will kill a lot of mice in the process of doing this, but they will die for a good cause.
Man... these folks got a lot of pet mice.
There were a lot of pitched battles here.
His studio was at home so there were a lot of models walking around naked.
Yesterday there were a lot of people.
But there were a lot of church burnings.
There were a lot of ladies in black sequin dresses at the party.
I know there were a lot of consonants.
No, there were a lot of reasons.
There were a lot of prints around the body.
There were a lot of werewolves at that convention.
Sir, there were a lot of bullets flying.
There were a lot of important newspaper men from Holland.
There were a lot of leads, you know.
They said there were a lot of people at the party.
There Were A Lot Of Big Words.
There were a lot of people who thought that.
There were a lot of men.
There were a lot of things going on.

This phrase is incorrect. 'Mouses' is not the correct plural form of 'mouse' when referring to the small rodent.

"There were a lot of mouses in the barn."

Avoid using 'mouses' when referring to more than one mouse. Always use 'mice' as the plural form in this context.

Show examples from the web [+]

There were a lot of pitched battles here.
His studio was at home so there were a lot of models walking around naked.
Yesterday there were a lot of people.
But there were a lot of church burnings.
There were a lot of ladies in black sequin dresses at the party.
I know there were a lot of consonants.
No, there were a lot of reasons.
There were a lot of prints around the body.
There were a lot of werewolves at that convention.
Sir, there were a lot of bullets flying.
There were a lot of important newspaper men from Holland.
There were a lot of leads, you know.
They said there were a lot of people at the party.
There Were A Lot Of Big Words.
There were a lot of people who thought that.
There were a lot of men.
There were a lot of things going on.
So these forgers panicked when they realised there were a lot of toy notes getting out.
There were a lot of maybes.
There were a lot of different ideas kicking around.

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There were a lot of mice in the barn. vs There were a lot of mouses in the barn.

"There were a lot of mice in the barn."

"There were a lot of mouses in the barn."

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