# bacteria vs bacterial

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### bacteria
*noun · IPA /bakˈtɪə̯.ri.ə/ · frequency rank #5,188*
plural of bacterium

### bacterial
*adjective · IPA [bækˈtɪəɹiəɫ] · frequency rank #10,653*
Of, relating to, or caused by bacteria.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bacteria-vs-bacterial