WintervswintersWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,851
“Winter” frequency rank
#45,383
“winters” frequency rank
63234
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Winter winters
Definition Hiver. Pluriel de winter.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
Winter
7 ch
winters

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Winter (\ˈvɪn.tɐ\) and winters (\ˈwɪntə(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) - “Winter” sits inside “winters”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Winter is recorded at frequency rank #17,851, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈvɪn.tɐ\. winters is at rank #45,383, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈwɪntə(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 63234, this pair ranks #83,049 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Winter vs winters

Shared letters: einrtw. Private to "Winter": -. Private to "winters": s.

"Winter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "winters" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Winteriwnter · winetr · winnter · winterr · wintre · wintter · witner · wniter
  • wintersiwnters · winetrs · winnters · winterrs · winterss · wintesr · wintres · wintters

Frequency comparison

Winter#17,851
winters#45,383

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Winter" and "winters" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈvɪn.tɐ\ versus \ˈwɪntə(ɹ)z\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Winter" or "winters"?
"Winter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,851 in our French list, against #45,383 for "winters". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Winter vs winters

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 “Winter” 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