Which to use
“canine” is a noun and “canines” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,931
- “canine” frequency rank
- #36,745
- “canines” frequency rank
- 67676
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | canine | canines |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dent pointue d’un mammifère (excepté les rongeurs), au nombre de deux par mâchoire, qui sert principalement à rompre ou à briser les corps durs ainsi qu'à déchirer la chair, et qui se situe entre les incisives et les molaires. | Féminin pluriel de canin. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set canine and canines apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: canine and canines carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ka.nin\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “canine” sits inside “canines”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67676, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
canine is recorded at frequency rank #30,931, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.nin\. canines is at rank #36,745, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ka.nin\.
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 67676, this pair ranks #62,371 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of canine vs canines
Shared letters: acein. Private to "canine": -. Private to "canines": s.
"canine" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "canines" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "canine" and "canines" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "canine" or "canines"?
Remembering canine vs canines
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “canine”; for an adjective, it's “canines”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “canine” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable