lettervslettersWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“letter” and “letters” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#37,407
“letter” frequency rank
#39,375
“letters” frequency rank
76782
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature letter letters
Definition Lettre, caractère. Pluriel de letter.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set letter and letters apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
letter
7 ch
letters

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. letter (\ˈlɛt.ə(ɹ)\) and letters (\ˈlɛt.ə(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) - “letter” sits inside “letters”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76782, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

letter is recorded at frequency rank #37,407, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈlɛt.ə(ɹ)\. letters is at rank #39,375, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈlɛt.ə(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 76782, this pair ranks #30,180 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of letter vs letters

Shared letters: elrt. Private to "letter": -. Private to "letters": s.

"letter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "letters" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lettereltter · leter · letetr · letterr · lletter · lteter
  • letterseltters · leters · letetrs · letterrs · letterss · lettesr · lletters · lteters

Frequency comparison

letter#37,407
letters#39,375

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "letter" and "letters" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈlɛt.ə(ɹ)\ versus \ˈlɛt.ə(ɹ)z\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "letter" or "letters"?
"letter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,407 in our French list, against #39,375 for "letters". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering letter vs letters

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 “letter” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list