dangerousvsdangersWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dangerous is a adjective, dangers is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dangerous” is an adjective and “dangers” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,377
“dangerous” frequency rank
#7,174
“dangers” frequency rank
50551
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dangerous dangers
Definition Dangereux. Pluriel de danger.

Where the spellings diverge

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

9 ch
dangerous
7 ch
dangers

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dangerous is \ˈdeɪn.dʒər.əs\ while dangers is \dɑ̃.ʒe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50551, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dangerous is recorded at frequency rank #43,377, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈdeɪn.dʒər.əs\. dangers is at rank #7,174, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɑ̃.ʒe\.

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 50551, this pair ranks #161,759 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dangerous vs dangers

Shared letters: adegnrs. Private to "dangerous": ou. Private to "dangers": -.

"dangerous" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC  ·  "dangers" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dangerousadngerous · dagnerous · danegrous · dangeorus · dangerosu · dangerouss · dangerrous · dangeruos
  • dangersadngers · dagners · danegrs · dangerrs · dangerss · dangesr · danggers · dangres

Frequency comparison

dangerous#43,377
dangers#7,174

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dangerous" and "dangers" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dangerous" is an adjective and "dangers" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dangerous" or "dangers"?
"dangers" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,174 in our French list, against #43,377 for "dangerous". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dangerous vs dangers

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “dangerous”; for a noun, it's “dangers”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dangerous” 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