gender vs Genders, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“gender” is a noun and “Genders” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,539
“gender” frequency rank: #20,366
“Genders” frequency rank: 22905
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	gender	Genders
Definition	Class; kind.	A surname from Old French.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set gender and Genders apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

gender

7 ch

Genders

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: gender is anoun and Gendersaname. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “gender” sits inside “Genders”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22905, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

gender is recorded at frequency rank #2,539, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈd͡ʒɛndə/. Genders is at rank #20,366, tagged as aname.

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 22905, this pair ranks #413,198 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of gender vs Genders

Shared letters: degnr. Private to "gender": -. Private to "Genders": s.

"gender" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Genders" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

gender ← egnder · gedner · gendder · genderr · gendre · genedr · gennder · ggender
Genders ← egnders · gedners · gendders · genderrs · genderss · gendesr · gendres · genedrs

Frequency comparison

gender#2,539

Genders#20,366

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "gender" and "Genders" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "gender" is a noun and "Genders" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "gender" or "Genders"?

"gender" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,539 in our English list, against #20,366 for "Genders". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering gender vs Genders

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “gender”; for a name, it's “Genders”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “gender” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable