kindvskindsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“kind” and “kinds” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#337
“kind” frequency rank
#2,951
“kinds” frequency rank
3288
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kind kinds
Definition A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may be grouped together. plural of kind

Where the eye mixes kind and kinds

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
kind
5 ch
kinds

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. kind (/kaɪnd/) and kinds (/kaɪndz/) 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) - “kind” sits inside “kinds”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3288, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kind is recorded at frequency rank #337, classified as anoun, pronounced /kaɪnd/. kinds is at rank #2,951, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kaɪndz/.

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 3288, this pair ranks #522,551 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kind vs kinds

Shared letters: dikn. Private to "kind": -. Private to "kinds": s.

"kind" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "kinds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kindiknd · kidn · kindd · kinnd · kkind · knid
  • kindsiknds · kidns · kindds · kindss · kinnds · kinsd · kkinds · knids

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kind" and "kinds" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kaɪnd/ versus /kaɪndz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kind" or "kinds"?
"kind" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #337 in our English list, against #2,951 for "kinds". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list