matchesvsofficeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#17,983
“matches” frequency rank
#5,205
“office” frequency rank
23188
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature matches office
Definition 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs match Arbeitsraum für Verwaltung und Planung: Büro

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set matches and office apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
matches
6 ch
office

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: matches is averb and officeanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23188, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

matches is recorded at frequency rank #17,983, classified as averb, pronounced […]. office is at rank #5,205, 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 23188, this pair ranks #1,864,609 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of matches vs office

Shared letters: ce. Private to "matches": ahmst. Private to "office": fio.

"matches" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC  ·  "office" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • matchesamtches · macthes · matcches · matcehs · matchess · matchhes · matchse · mathces
  • officefofice · offcie · officce · offiec · ofice · ofifce

Frequency comparison

matches#17,983
office#5,205

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "matches" and "office" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "matches" is a verb and "office" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "matches" or "office"?
"office" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,205 in our German list, against #17,983 for "matches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering matches vs office

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “matches”; for a noun, it's “office”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “matches” 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