Which to use
“burn” is a noun and “burns” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,504
- “burn” frequency rank
- #23,460
- “burns” frequency rank
- 41964
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | burn | burns |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | verbrannte Stelle | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs burn |
Where the eye mixes burn and burns
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between burn and burns
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: burn is [bɜːn] while burns is [bɜːnz]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “burn” sits inside “burns”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41964, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
burn is recorded at frequency rank #18,504, classified as anoun, pronounced [bɜːn]. burns is at rank #23,460, tagged as averb, pronounced [bɜːnz].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 41964, this pair ranks #1,463,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of burn vs burns
Shared letters: bnru. Private to "burn": -. Private to "burns": s.
"burn" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "burns" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "burn" and "burns" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "burn" or "burns"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "burn" and "burns" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "burn" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "burns" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,463,702 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "burn" and "burns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Buff vs burn". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,463,702 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.