Grammar Tips & Articles »

Incidents vs. Incidence

This Grammar.com article is about Incidents vs. Incidence — enjoy your reading!


1:39 min read
29,053 Views
  Marius Alza  —  Grammar Tips
Font size:

Another pair of words written and pronounced very similarly is represented by "incidents" and "incidence". But, as in most of the cases, it is also wrong to replace one with the other because their meanings are completely distinct.

The best solution to make sure you never confuse or misspell "incidents" and "incidence" is to quickly recap what each word represents. Let's define again their meanings to make sure everything is clear.

Incidents vs. Incidence

Both "incidents" and "incidence" are nouns, but while the second one is the singular form, the first one is the plural of the noun "incident". They might sound almost identically and their pronunciations might be the most common source of their misspelling, but they define different concepts.

When do we use "incidents"?

"Incidents" is the plural form of the noun "incident", which is defined as an event. More specifically, the word usually refers to a bad or unexpected, unusual event. "Incidents" is a formal word, anyway, as in daily conversation it can often be replaced with "event", "fact", "moment" or other words, according to the context.

Example: Several strange incidents happened in the southern area of the country during the last weeks. - "incidents" is referring to sudden, unusual events

When do we use "incidence"?

"Incidence" is a noun usually used in singular and it refers to how often an incident takes place, how often something (usually something bad) happens.

Example: We observed a high incidence of accidents in this area. - "incidence" is referring to how many accidents took place in a certain area.

Conclusion

Similarity between words' pronunciation and spelling is an often source of confusion and misspellings. But it can be quickly solved by actually understanding those similar words and remembering their meanings. In the case of "incidents" and "incidence", just remember the first one is the plural form of "incident", which refers to a bad, unusual event, while the second one is a singular noun referring to the frequency of a bad event.

Incidents vs. Incidence

Rate this article:

Have a discussion about this article with the community:

1 Comment
  • karlc.43434
    Is there a plural form for the noun “incidence”?
    LikeReply1 year ago

Citation

Use the citation below to add this article to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"Incidents vs. Incidence." Grammar.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 6 Dec. 2024. <https://www.grammar.com/incidents_vs._incidence>.

Free, no signup required:

Add to Chrome

Check your text and writing for style, spelling and grammar problems everywhere on the web!

Free, no signup required:

Add to Firefox

Check your text and writing for style, spelling and grammar problems everywhere on the web!

Free Writing Tool:

Instant
Grammar Checker

Improve your grammar, vocabulary, style, and writing — all for FREE!


Quiz

Are you a grammar master?

»
Identify the sentence with correct use of the comparative adverbs:
A She dances more beautifully than him.
B They reached the destination sooner than we.
C She speaks English more fluently than anyone in the class.
D He finished the race quicker than the other athletes.

Improve your writing now:

Download Grammar eBooks

It’s now more important than ever to develop a powerful writing style. After all, most communication takes place in reports, emails, and instant messages.