Which to use
“brother” and “brothers” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #801
- “brother” frequency rank
- #2,065
- “brothers” frequency rank
- 2866
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | brother | brothers |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Son of the same parents as another person. | plural of brother |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set brother and brothers apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
brother and brothers form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “brother” sits inside “brothers” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2866, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
brother is recorded at frequency rank #801, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɹʌðə/. brothers is at rank #2,065, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɹʌðə(ɹ)z/.
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 2866, this pair ranks #523,804 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "brother" and "brothers" be used interchangeably?
Remembering brother vs brothers
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “brother” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable