questionnairevsquestionnairesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,928
“questionnaire” frequency rank
#28,313
“questionnaires” frequency rank
39241
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature questionnaire questionnaires
Definition Bourreau qui donnait la question aux accusés. Pluriel de questionnaire.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set questionnaire and questionnaires apart are highlighted. They share 13 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

13 ch
questionnaire
14 ch
questionnaires

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. questionnaire and questionnaires are pronounced identically (\kɛs.tjɔ.nɛʁ\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “questionnaire” sits inside “questionnaires”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

questionnaire is recorded at frequency rank #10,928, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɛs.tjɔ.nɛʁ\. questionnaires is at rank #28,313, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɛs.tjɔ.nɛʁ\.

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 39241, this pair ranks #249,437 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of questionnaire vs questionnaires

Shared letters: aeinoqrstu. Private to "questionnaire": -. Private to "questionnaires": -.

"questionnaire" · 13 letters · shape CVVCCVVCCVVCV  ·  "questionnaires" · 14 letters · shape CVVCCVVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • questionnaireqeustionnaire · qquestionnaire · quesitonnaire · quesstionnaire · questinonaire · questionaire · questionanire · questionnaier
  • questionnairesqeustionnaires · qquestionnaires · quesitonnaires · quesstionnaires · questinonaires · questionaires · questionanires · questionnaiers

Frequency comparison

questionnaire#10,928
questionnaires#28,313

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "questionnaire" and "questionnaires" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\kɛs.tjɔ.nɛʁ\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "questionnaire" or "questionnaires"?
"questionnaire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,928 in our French list, against #28,313 for "questionnaires". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering questionnaire vs questionnaires

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 “questionnaire” 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