you'revsyourselfWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: you're is a abbrev, yourself is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“you're” is an abbrev and “yourself” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,006
“you're” frequency rank
#21,854
“yourself” frequency rank
36860
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature you're yourself
Definition „you are, 2. Person Singular:“ du bist [du] dich selbst; [du] dir selbst, [du] selbst

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set you're and yourself apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
you're
8 ch
yourself

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: you're is anabbrev and yourselfapronoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36860, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

you're is recorded at frequency rank #15,006, classified as anabbrev, pronounced […]. yourself is at rank #21,854, tagged as apron, 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 36860, this pair ranks #1,604,894 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of you're vs yourself

Shared letters: eoruy. Private to "you're": -. Private to "yourself": fls.

"you're" · 5 letters · shape VVVCV  ·  "yourself" · 8 letters · shape VVVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • yourselfoyurself · yoruself · youreslf · yourrself · yoursefl · yourselff · yoursellf · yourslef

Frequency comparison

you're#15,006
yourself#21,854

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "you're" and "yourself" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "you're" is an abbrev and "yourself" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "you're" or "yourself"?
"you're" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,006 in our German list, against #21,854 for "yourself". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering you're vs yourself

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an abbrev, it's “you're”; for a pronoun, it's “yourself”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “you're” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list