Which to use
“NGO” is an abbrev and “NGOs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,644
- “NGO” frequency rank
- #23,250
- “NGOs” frequency rank
- 46894
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | NGO | NGOs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | in den unterschiedlichsten zivilgesellschaftlichen Bereichen tätige regierungsunabhängige Organisation | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs NGO |
Where the eye mixes NGO and NGOs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. NGO runs 3 letters (CCV) against NGOs's 4 (CCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: NGO vs NGOs
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: NGO is [ˌɛnd͡ʒiˈʔoʊ] while NGOs is [ˌɛnd͡ʒiˈʔoʊs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “NGO” sits inside “NGOs”, and the parts of speech differ too (abbrev vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
NGO is recorded at frequency rank #23,644, classified as anabbrev, pronounced [ˌɛnd͡ʒiˈʔoʊ]. NGOs is at rank #23,250, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˌɛnd͡ʒiˈʔoʊs].
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 46894, this pair ranks #1,303,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of NGO vs NGOs
Shared letters: gno. Private to "NGO": -. Private to "NGOs": s.
"NGO" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "NGOs" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- NGOs ← gnos · nggos · ngoss · ngso · nngos · nogs
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "NGO" and "NGOs" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "NGO" vs "NGOs" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "NGO" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "NGOs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,303,300 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "NGO" and "NGOs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nagy vs NGO". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,303,300 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.