Which to use
“Marine” is a noun and “marines” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,393
- “Marine” frequency rank
- #33,182
- “marines” frequency rank
- 38575
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Marine | marines |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die zur Seekriegsführung bestimmten Streitkräfte eines Staates | Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs marin |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Marine and marines apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Marine is [maˈʁiːnə] while marines is [maˈʁiːnəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Marine” sits inside “marines”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38575, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Marine is recorded at frequency rank #5,393, classified as anoun, pronounced [maˈʁiːnə]. marines is at rank #33,182, tagged as anadj, pronounced [maˈʁiːnəs].
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 38575, this pair ranks #1,560,313 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Marine vs marines
Shared letters: aeimnr. Private to "Marine": -. Private to "marines": s.
"Marine" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "marines" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Marine" and "marines" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "Marine" or "marines"?
Remembering Marine vs marines
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Marine”; for an adjective, it's “marines”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Marine” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable