incidence or incidents?
Though pronounced similarly, these two words mean different things and so ought not to be confused. Incidents, a plural noun, means "events, occurrences," as in Three incidents [not incidence] of speeding on campus have been reported.Five hundred incidents [not incidence] of Ebola virus were documented last year. Incidence, a singular noun, means variously "the rate of occurrence of something happening" and "an instance of something happening and how it happens," as in studying the annual incidence [not incidents] of Ebola virus;increased incidence [not incidents] of poverty.
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