# phonetic vs phonetics

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### phonetic
*adjective · IPA /fəˈnɛt.ɪk/ · frequency rank #28,325*
Relating to the sounds of spoken language.

### phonetics
*noun · IPA /fəˈnɛt.ɪks/ · frequency rank #48,968*
The study of the physical sounds of human speech, concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds (phones), and the processes of their physiological production, auditory reception, and neurophysiological perception, and their representation by written symbols.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/phonetic-vs-phonetics