Differance or difference?
Did you mean difference? Here's the right spelling and how to remember it.
Incorrect
differance
Correct
difference
Correct spelling: difference. Misspelling: differance.
letters the misspelling gets wrong or leaves out letters that shouldn't be there
Memory tip
Differ + ence: say all three syllables.
Why people write “differance”
The endings -ence and -ance sound identical in speech; this word takes -ence.
Spell-checkers catch the mistake in a document, but not in a handwritten note, a text message or a word game. Writing the word out a few times while saying the tricky part aloud is the quickest way to make difference automatic.
What does “difference” mean?
difference noun
- the quality of being unlike or dissimilar
“there are many differences between jazz and rock”
- a variation that deviates from the standard or norm
“the deviation from the mean”
Synonyms:deviationdivergencedeparture
- a disagreement or argument about something important
“he had a dispute with his wife”
- a significant change
“the difference in her is amazing”
Definitions from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Full dictionary entry
“Difference” in a sentence
- Can you tell the difference?
- There are many differences between jazz and rock.
- The deviation from the mean.
- He had a dispute with his wife.
Is “difference” a playable word?
19 points in Scrabble · 21 in Words With Friends
- Scrabble (US)
- Scrabble (UK)
- Words With Friends
“differance” is not accepted in any of these games. See every word you can make from DIFFERENCE.