Which to use
“item” is an adverb and “items” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,048
- “item” frequency rank
- #25,024
- “items” frequency rank
- 44072
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | item | items |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | De même, également. | Pluriel de item. |
Same sound, different letters: item vs items
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - item / items
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: item and items carry the same recorded pronunciation, \i.tɛm\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadverb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “item” sits inside “items”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
item is recorded at frequency rank #19,048, classified as anadv, pronounced \i.tɛm\. items is at rank #25,024, tagged as anoun, pronounced \i.tɛm\.
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 44072, this pair ranks #213,274 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of item vs items
Shared letters: eimt. Private to "item": -. Private to "items": s.
"item" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "items" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "item" and "items" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "item" or "items" show up more?
What to do next
"item" and "items" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "item" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "items" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #213,274 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "item" and "items" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "items vs ives". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #213,274 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.