brother vs brothers, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“brother” and “brothers” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,059
“brother” frequency rank: #19,934
“brothers” frequency rank: 36993
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	brother	brothers
Definition	Hermano.	Forma del plural de brother.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set brother and brothers apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

brother

8 ch

brothers

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. brother (/ˈbɹʌð.ə(ɹ)/) and brothers (/ˈbɹʌðə(ɹ)z/) 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) - “brother” sits inside “brothers”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36993, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

brother is recorded at frequency rank #17,059, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɹʌð.ə(ɹ)/. brothers is at rank #19,934, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɹʌðə(ɹ)z/.

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 36993, this pair ranks #177,710 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of brother vs brothers

Shared letters: behort. Private to "brother": -. Private to "brothers": s.

"brother" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "brothers" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

brother ← bbrother · borther · brohter · brotehr · brotherr · brothher · brothre · brotther
brothers ← bbrothers · borthers · brohters · brotehrs · brotherrs · brotherss · brothesr · brothhers

Frequency comparison

brother#17,059

brothers#19,934

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "brother" and "brothers" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈbɹʌð.ə(ɹ)/ versus /ˈbɹʌðə(ɹ)z/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "brother" or "brothers"?

"brother" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,059 in our Spanish list, against #19,934 for "brothers". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering brother vs brothers

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