Which to use
“terrier” is an adjective and “terriers” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,118
- “terrier” frequency rank
- #45,344
- “terriers” frequency rank
- 67462
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | terrier | terriers |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qualifiait le registre foncier, contenant le dénombrement, les déclarations des particuliers qui relevaient d’une seigneurie, et le détail des droits, cens et rentes qui y étaient dus. | Pluriel de terrier. |
Same sound, different letters: terrier vs terriers
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. terrier runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against terriers's 8 (CVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - terrier / terriers
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: terrier and terriers carry the same recorded pronunciation, \tɛ.ʁje\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “terrier” sits inside “terriers”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67462, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
terrier is recorded at frequency rank #22,118, classified as anadj, pronounced \tɛ.ʁje\. terriers is at rank #45,344, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɛ.ʁje\.
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 67462, this pair ranks #63,364 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of terrier vs terriers
Shared letters: eirt. Private to "terrier": -. Private to "terriers": s.
"terrier" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "terriers" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "terrier" and "terriers" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "terrier" vs "terriers" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
"terrier" and "terriers" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "terrier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "terriers" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,364 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "terrier" and "terriers" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "terreurs vs terriers". 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 #63,364 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.