How to Spell Questionnaire
Is it questionaire, or questionnaire?
The correct spelling is questionnaire - double N before AIRE (like millionaire). It's commonly misspelled as questionaire, questionnairre, or questionairre.
A questionnaire is a set of written questions used to gather information or opinions from a group of people.
Common Misspellings:
Why Questionnaire Is Hard to Spell
You're not alone. Questionnaire is one of the most commonly misspelled words in academic and professional writing. It's a French loanword that English adopted without anglicising - keeping the double N and the -AIRE ending exactly as French uses them.
Why this mistake happens: In speech, the double N is swallowed - you hear "ques-chun-AIR," not "ques-chun-N-AIR." The -AIRE ending also looks unusual in English, where we more often see -AIR or -ARE. The millionaire connection is the fix: both words share NN + AIRE, and "millionaire" is easier to picture.
Questionnaire Spelling Breakdown
Break it into chunks: question-n-aire
Notice the join: question ends in N, and the suffix -NAIRE starts with N - producing the double NN. Then -AIRE finishes it (A-I-R-E, not A-I-R). Think of it as question + naire, where the two N's meet at the seam.
Word Origin
"Questionnaire" is a direct borrowing from French, where it means exactly the same thing: a list of questions for a survey. French built it from "questionner" (to question) + the suffix "-aire" (equivalent to English "-ary"). English adopted it in the late 19th century as survey research became common in academia and business. The spelling was kept intact from French - which is why the double N and the -AIRE ending both feel foreign to English eyes.
Etymology Path:
French questionner → French questionnaire → Modern English questionnaire
Memory Trick for Questionnaire
Use this simple phrase to lock in the correct spelling forever:
"A questioNNAIRE? No. No thanks. Need some AIRE! (NN-AIRE)"
Why it works: "MillioNAIRE" and "questionNAIRE" are spelling twins - both end in NN + AIRE. If you've ever written "millionaire" correctly, you already know the pattern. The vivid image of a wealthy person sending out surveys makes the connection concrete and memorable.
How to use it: When you hesitate at "question_aire," picture a millionaire with a clipboard. MillioNAIRE → questionNAIRE. Double N, then AIRE - A-I-R-E, ending in E. One R, not two.
What Questionnaire Means
A questionnaire is a set of written questions used to gather information or opinions from a group of people.
Research: "Participants completed a questionnaire measuring their attitudes toward remote work."
Business: "The HR team sent out a questionnaire to gauge employee satisfaction."
Common Misspellings of Questionnaire
✗ questionaire - Single N (the double N at the question/naire seam is silent in speech)
✗ questionnairre - Double R instead of double N (the R is single, the N is double)
✗ questionairre - Single N and double R - both wrong at once
Quick tip: Think millioNAIRE. Same NN + AIRE ending, one R, ends in E. questionNAIRE = millioNAIRE with "question" in front.
