Which to use
“example” and “examples” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #540
- “example” frequency rank
- #2,342
- “examples” frequency rank
- 2882
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | example | examples |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Something that is representative of all such things in a group. | plural of example |
Where the eye mixes example and examples
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between example and examples
A purely visual mix-up. example (/ɪɡˈzɑːm.pəl/) and examples (/ɪɡˈzɑːmpl̩z/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “example” sits inside “examples”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
example is recorded at frequency rank #540, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪɡˈzɑːm.pəl/. examples is at rank #2,342, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪɡˈzɑːmpl̩z/.
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 2882, this pair ranks #523,754 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of example vs examples
Shared letters: aelmpx. Private to "example": -. Private to "examples": s.
"example" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCCV · "examples" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "example" and "examples" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "example" or "examples" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "example" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "examples" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #523,754 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "example" and "examples" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "examine vs example". 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 #523,754 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.