lettervslettersWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: letter is a noun, letters is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“letter” is a noun and “letters” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,681
“letter” frequency rank
#41,320
“letters” frequency rank
71001
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature letter letters
Definition Brief 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs letter

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set letter and letters apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
letter
7 ch
letters

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: letter is anoun and lettersaverb. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “letter” sits inside “letters”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71001, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

letter is recorded at frequency rank #29,681, classified as anoun, pronounced [letə(r)]. letters is at rank #41,320, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 71001, this pair ranks #429,552 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of letter vs letters

Shared letters: elrt. Private to "letter": -. Private to "letters": s.

"letter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "letters" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lettereltter · leter · letetr · letterr · lettre · lletter · lteter
  • letterseltters · leters · letetrs · letterrs · letterss · lettesr · lettres · lletters

Frequency comparison

letter#29,681
letters#41,320

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "letter" and "letters" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "letter" is a noun and "letters" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "letter" or "letters"?
"letter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,681 in our German list, against #41,320 for "letters". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering letter vs letters

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “letter”; for a verb, it's “letters”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “letter” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list