requirementvsrequirementsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,628
“requirement” frequency rank
#2,310
“requirements” frequency rank
6938
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature requirement requirements
Definition A necessity or prerequisite; something required or obligatory. Its adpositions are generally of in relation to who or what has given it, on in relation to whom or what it is given to, and for in relation to what is required. plural of requirement

Where the eye mixes requirement and requirements

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence.

11 ch
requirement
12 ch
requirements

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. requirement (/ɹɪˈkwʌɪəm(ə)nt/) and requirements (/ɹɪˈkwʌɪəm(ə)nts/) 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) - “requirement” sits inside “requirements”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6938, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

requirement is recorded at frequency rank #4,628, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈkwʌɪəm(ə)nt/. requirements is at rank #2,310, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹɪˈkwʌɪəm(ə)nts/.

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 6938, this pair ranks #509,322 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of requirement vs requirements

Shared letters: eimnqrtu. Private to "requirement": -. Private to "requirements": s.

"requirement" · 11 letters · shape CVCVVCVCVCC  ·  "requirements" · 12 letters · shape CVCVVCVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • requirementerquirement · reqiurement · reqquirement · requierment · requireemnt · requiremennt · requirementt · requiremetn
  • requirementserquirements · reqiurements · reqquirements · requierments · requireemnts · requiremennts · requiremenst · requirementss

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "requirement" and "requirements" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɹɪˈkwʌɪəm(ə)nt/ versus /ɹɪˈkwʌɪəm(ə)nts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "requirement" or "requirements"?
"requirements" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,310 in our English list, against #4,628 for "requirement". 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