Which to use
“experience” and “experiences” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #541
- “experience” frequency rank
- #2,733
- “experiences” frequency rank
- 3274
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | experience | experiences |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The effect upon the judgment or feelings produced by any event, whether witnessed or participated in; personal and direct impressions as contrasted with description or fancies; personal acquaintance; actual enjoyment or suffering. | plural of experience |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set experience and experiences apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
experience and experiences 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) - “experience” sits inside “experiences” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3274, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
experience is recorded at frequency rank #541, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɪkˈspɪə.ɹɪəns/. experiences is at rank #2,733, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɪkˈspɪɹ.i.ən.sɪz/.
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 3274, this pair ranks #522,595 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "experience" and "experiences" be used interchangeably?
Remembering experience vs experiences
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 “experience” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable