cupsvssinglesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cups is a noun, singles is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

By · Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org ·

Which to use

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

#18,850
“cups” frequency rank
#3,773
“singles” frequency rank
22623
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cups singles
Definition Plural des Substantivs cup 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs single

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cups and singles apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
cups
7 ch
singles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cups is anoun and singlesaverb. On the page they differ by 3 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22623, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cups is recorded at frequency rank #18,850, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. singles is at rank #3,773, tagged as averb, 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 22623, this pair ranks #1,871,881 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cups vs singles

Shared letters: s. Private to "cups": cpu. Private to "singles": egiln.

"cups" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "singles" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cups ← ccups · cupps · cupss · cusp · ucps
  • singles ← isngles · signles · singels · singgles · singless · singlles · singlse · sinlges

Frequency comparison

cups#18,850
singles#3,773

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cups" and "singles" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cups" is a noun and "singles" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cups" or "singles"?
"singles" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,773 in our German list, against #18,850 for "cups". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cups vs singles

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “cups”; for a verb, it's “singles”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cups” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list