membervsmembersWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#677
“member” frequency rank
#445
“members” frequency rank
1122
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature member members
Definition One who belongs to a group. plural of member

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
member
7 ch
members

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. member (/ˈmɛmbə/) and members (/ˈmɛmbəz/) 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) - “member” sits inside “members”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1122, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

member is recorded at frequency rank #677, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛmbə/. members is at rank #445, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛmbəz/.

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 1122, this pair ranks #528,047 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of member vs members

Shared letters: bemr. Private to "member": -. Private to "members": s.

"member" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "members" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • memberemmber · mebmer · membber · memberr · membre · memebr · memmber · mmeber
  • membersemmbers · mebmers · membbers · memberrs · memberss · membesr · membres · memebrs

Frequency comparison

member#677
members#445

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "member" and "members" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈmɛmbə/ versus /ˈmɛmbəz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "member" or "members"?
"members" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #445 in our English list, against #677 for "member". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering member vs members

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 “member” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list