English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
STAFF or STAFFS?
There is a good relationship between ~staff~ and the students (nonstandard).
There is a good relationship between *staff* and the students (standard).
The staff of an organisation are the people who work for it.
A staff could also be a person who works for an organisation:
I guess the new staff should have been briefed. ✔️
Staff can be pluralised when it means the officers chiefly responsible for the internal operations of an institution or business or a group of officers appointed to assist a civil executive or commanding officer:
Other workers are waiting for the staffs to issue directives. ✔️
The staffs were with the MD throughout the meeting. ✔️
“Staffs” can also be used when it is the plural form of staff as a long, strong stick held in the hand that is used as a support when walking, as a weapon, or as a symbol of authority:
Kings walk around with staffs. ✔️
In American English, one member of staff can also be called “a staffer”, and the word can be pluralised as staffers:
White House staffers briefed reporters. ✔️
GAB
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