remarkvsremarksWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,952
“remark” frequency rank
#5,540
“remarks” frequency rank
17492
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature remark remarks
Definition An act of pointing out or noticing; notice or observation. plural of remark

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
remark
7 ch
remarks

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. remark (/ɹɪˈmɑɹk/) and remarks (/ɹɪˈmɑɹks/) 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) - “remark” sits inside “remarks”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

remark is recorded at frequency rank #11,952, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈmɑɹk/. remarks is at rank #5,540, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈmɑɹks/.

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 17492, this pair ranks #451,081 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of remark vs remarks

Shared letters: aekmr. Private to "remark": -. Private to "remarks": s.

"remark" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "remarks" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • remarkermark · reamrk · remakr · remarkk · remarrk · remmark · remrak · rmeark
  • remarksermarks · reamrks · remakrs · remarkks · remarkss · remarrks · remarsk · remmarks

Frequency comparison

remark#11,952
remarks#5,540

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "remark" and "remarks" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɹɪˈmɑɹk/ versus /ɹɪˈmɑɹks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "remark" or "remarks"?
"remarks" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,540 in our English list, against #11,952 for "remark". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering remark vs remarks

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 “remark” 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