Singular vs. Plural Keywords in App Store Optimization
When does Apple stem keywords and when do you need both variants?
Apple's English Stemming Rules
In English, Apple's search engine employs morphological stemming for regular plurals ending in -s or -es (e.g., 'habit' matches 'habits', 'workout' matches 'workouts').
In most cases, including both 'habit' and 'habits' in your 100-character field wastes 6 characters.
However, irregular plurals or words where search intent drastically differs (e.g., 'recipe' vs 'recipes') can have slight ranking deltas for exact matches.
International Language Exceptions
In Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese) and Germanic languages (German), stemming is less reliable. In some cases, exact plural matches rank higher.
In ideographic languages (Japanese, Chinese), singular and plural forms do not exist grammatically in the same way, altering how root concepts are indexed.
How ASOGrade solves this
- Check popularity scores for both singular and plural variants in ASOGrade.
- Target the variant with higher Apple Search Ads popularity in your Title and Subtitle.
- Avoid repeating the alternate variant in your 100-character keyword field.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need to put both singular and plural in my keyword field?
- In English, no. The singular form almost always matches searches for the plural form, saving you character space for other unique root words.
- Which variant has higher search demand: 'photo editor' or 'photo editors'?
- Users overwhelmingly search 'photo editor' (singular) when looking for apps. Singular forms typically carry 2x to 5x higher search popularity.
Other ASO solutions
- How to Find High-Value App Store Keyword Ideas | ASOGradeTurning raw ideas, competitor terms, and review language into a scored candidate listLearn more
- Finding Winnable App Store KeywordsTargeting high demand with low difficulty — the only quadrant worth your charactersLearn more
- How to Uncover What Keywords Competitors Rank For | ASOGradeReverse-engineer any App Store URL and extract scored keyword sets in secondsLearn more
- International ASO Across 109 StorefrontsEvaluate keyword demand and difficulty per country before paying for translationsLearn more
- Fast App Store Keyword Research in Seconds, Not Hours | ASOGradeScore 100 keywords in a single batch with instant cached resultsLearn more
- Affordable App Store Keyword ResearchThe research pass on its own — no bloated dashboards, no $300/mo agency feesLearn more
- Optimize App Store Character Limits (30/30/100) | ASOGradeMaximizing the 160 characters Apple actually indexes for organic keyword rankingLearn more
- Recover from App Store Keyword Ranking Drops | ASOGradeStep-by-step diagnostic to identify why your ranks fell and how to regain positionLearn more
- Stop Words to Remove from App Store Keywords | ASOGradeStop wasting characters on words Apple already filters out automaticallyLearn more
- The Zero-Repeat Keyword Strategy | ASOGradeWhy repeating words across your Title, Subtitle, and Keyword field harms your rankLearn more
- Rank in the Japan App Store (ASO Guide) | ASOGradeLeveraging Kanji, Katakana, and secondary English indexing in the world's #3 mobile marketLearn more
- Double US App Store Keywords via Mexican Spanish | ASOGradeTake advantage of Apple's cross-indexing rules to gain 160 bonus characters in the USLearn more
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