Troop vs troupe
Troop is a group of soldiers, Scouts or animals, and troops usually means soldiers. Troupe is a group of performers, such as actors, singers or dancers.
troop noun
A group of soldiers, or soldiers in general. Also a local group of Scouts or a group of monkeys.
- The president promised to bring the troops home by the end of the year.
- A troop of baboons crossed the road in front of our jeep.
troupe noun
A group of actors, singers or dancers who perform together, often traveling from place to place.
- She joined a traveling theater troupe straight out of college.
- A dance troupe from Brazil performed at the festival.
Watch out
- The two words sound exactly the same, so the spelling has to carry the difference.
- Troop is also a verb meaning to walk somewhere together as a group. It is spelled troop even when the group is not soldiers.The jury trooped back into the courtroom shortly after noon.
- Using a troop to mean one soldier is nonstandard, so say a soldier. Troops with a large number, as in 5,000 troops, is standard, but with a small number many editors prefer soldiers.
Test yourself
The general sent more blanks to guard the border.
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troop. Soldiers are troops.
A blank of acrobats and jugglers came to town for the summer fair.
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troupe. A group of performers is a troupe.
My daughter's Girl Scout blank sold cookies outside the store.
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troop. A local group of Scouts is a troop.
The theater blank is touring six cities this spring.
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troupe. A company of actors that tours is a troupe.