Which to use
“foreigner” and “foreigners” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,409
- “foreigner” frequency rank
- #8,668
- “foreigners” frequency rank
- 24077
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | foreigner | foreigners |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A person from a foreign country. | plural of foreigner |
Where the eye mixes foreigner and foreigners
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses foreigner with foreigners
A purely visual mix-up. foreigner (/ˈfɒɹ.ɪ.nə(ɹ)/) and foreigners (/ˈfɒɹ.ɪ.nəz/) 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) - “foreigner” sits inside “foreigners”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24077, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
foreigner is recorded at frequency rank #15,409, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɒɹ.ɪ.nə(ɹ)/. foreigners is at rank #8,668, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈfɒɹ.ɪ.nəz/.
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 24077, this pair ranks #404,642 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of foreigner vs foreigners
Shared letters: efginor. Private to "foreigner": -. Private to "foreigners": s.
"foreigner" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC · "foreigners" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- foreigner ← fforeigner · foerigner · foreginer · foreigenr · foreiggner · foreignerr · foreignner · foreignre
- foreigners ← fforeigners · foerigners · foreginers · foreigenrs · foreiggners · foreignerrs · foreignerss · foreignesr
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "foreigner" and "foreigners" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "foreigner" vs "foreigners" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "foreigner" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "foreigners" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #404,642 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "foreigner" and "foreigners" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "foreign vs foreigner". 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 #404,642 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.