ENGLISH
REFERENCE

staffs

n. plural-only
B1 Intermediate US //ˈstæfs// staffs

n. the groups of people who work for an organization, like a school or a company. You use this plural form when talking about several different teams or organizations.

n. the collective bodies of personnel employed by an organization or business. While the singular form is often used as a collective noun, the plural form specifically refers to multiple distinct groups of employees.


SIMPLE

The two hospitals share their medical staffs during emergencies.

CONTEXTUAL

The university president met with the teaching and administrative staffs to discuss the new budget cuts.

COMPLEX

Coordinating the various diplomatic staffs across multiple embassies requires a sophisticated communication network to ensure that policy implementation remains consistent across different regions.

Synonyms
Usage

Takes a plural verb. While 'staff' is more common as a collective singular, 'staffs' is used to distinguish between different groups or organizations.

Pitfall

The company has many staffs.The company has a large staff.Learners often use 'staffs' to mean many employees in one company, but 'staff' is already a collective noun for that; 'staffs' only refers to multiple separate organizations.

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