techniquevstechniquesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: technique is a noun, techniques is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#857
“technique” frequency rank
#1,579
“techniques” frequency rank
2436
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature technique techniques
Definition Manière d’accomplir une tâche qui n’est pas immédiatement évidente. Pluriel de technique.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set technique and techniques apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
technique
10 ch
techniques

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

technique and techniques form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “technique” sits inside “techniques” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2436, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

technique is recorded at frequency rank #857, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɛk.nik\. techniques is at rank #1,579, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tɛk.nik\.

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 2436, this pair ranks #436,149 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

technique#857
techniques#1,579

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "technique" and "techniques" be used interchangeably?
No, "technique" and "techniques" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering technique vs techniques

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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