Which to use
“archive” is a noun and “archives” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,311
- “archive” frequency rank
- #6,022
- “archives” frequency rank
- 13333
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | archive | archives |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A place for storing earlier, and often historical, material. An archive usually contains documents (letters, records, newspapers, etc.) or other types of media kept for historical interest. | third-person singular simple present indicative of archive |
Letter map: archive vs archives
Shared letters muted; letters that set archive and archives apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. archive runs 7 letters (VCCCVCV) against archives's 8 (VCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: archive vs archives
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: archive is anoun and archivesaverb. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “archive” sits inside “archives”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13333, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
archive is recorded at frequency rank #7,311, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɑːkaɪv/. archives is at rank #6,022, tagged as averb.
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 13333, this pair ranks #476,409 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of archive vs archives
Shared letters: acehirv. Private to "archive": -. Private to "archives": s.
"archive" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV · "archives" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "archive" and "archives" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "archive" vs "archives" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pair "archive" vs "archives" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "archive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "archives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #476,409 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "archive" and "archives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "archives vs archivist". 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 #476,409 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.