check vs checks, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“check” is a verb and “checks” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,156
“check” frequency rank: #35,692
“checks” frequency rank: 40848
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	check	checks
Definition	2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs checken	Plural des Substantivs check

Letter map: check vs checks

Shared letters muted; letters that set check and checks apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

5 ch

check

6 ch

checks

Grammar separator: check vs checks

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: check is averb and checksanoun. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “check” sits inside “checks”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40848, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

check is recorded at frequency rank #5,156, classified as averb, pronounced [t͡ʃɛk]. checks is at rank #35,692, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].

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 40848, this pair ranks #1,496,570 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of check vs checks

Shared letters: cehk. Private to "check": -. Private to "checks": s.

"check" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "checks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

check ← ccheck · cehck · chcek · checck · checkk · chekc · chheck · hceck
checks ← cchecks · cehcks · chceks · checcks · checkks · checkss · checsk · chekcs

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "check" and "checks" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "check" is a verb and "checks" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "check" or "checks"?

"check" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,156 in our German list, against #35,692 for "checks". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "check" and "checks". Here's where to go from here.

Full dictionary entry for "check" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "checks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #1,496,570 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"check" and "checks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "checks vs puzzles". 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 #1,496,570 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.