family vs running, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#7,759
“family” frequency rank: #15,470
“running” frequency rank: 23229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	family	running
Definition	Familie	Partizip Präsens (present participle) des Verbs run

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

family

7 ch

running

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: family is anoun and runningaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

family is recorded at frequency rank #7,759, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. running is at rank #15,470, 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 23229, this pair ranks #1,864,040 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of family vs running

Shared letters: i. Private to "family": aflmy. Private to "running": gnru.

"family" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "running" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

family ← afmily · faimly · familly · familyy · famiyl · famliy · fammily · ffamily
running ← rnuning · rrunning · runing · runinng · runnign · runningg · runninng · runnnig

Frequency comparison

family#7,759

running#15,470

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "family" and "running" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "family" or "running"?

"family" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,759 in our German list, against #15,470 for "running". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering family vs running

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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