Which to use
“effect” is a noun and “effects” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,859
- “effect” frequency rank
- #24,305
- “effects” frequency rank
- 42164
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | effect | effects |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Auswirkung, Folge | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs effect |
Letter map: effect vs effects
Shared letters muted; letters that set effect and effects apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.
Role in the sentence - effect and effects
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: effect is anoun and effectsaverb. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “effect” sits inside “effects”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42164, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
effect is recorded at frequency rank #17,859, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɪˈfekt]. effects is at rank #24,305, 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 42164, this pair ranks #1,457,650 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of effect vs effects
Shared letters: ceft. Private to "effect": -. Private to "effects": s.
"effect" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "effects" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "effect" and "effects" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "effect" or "effects"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "effect" and "effects".
- Full dictionary entry for "effect" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "effects" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,457,650 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "effect" and "effects" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "effects 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 #1,457,650 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.