Which to use
“accept” and “accepts” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,473
- “accept” frequency rank
- #8,507
- “accepts” frequency rank
- 9980
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | accept | accepts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To receive, especially with a consent, with favour, or with approval. | third-person singular simple present indicative of accept |
Where the eye mixes accept and accepts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses accept with accepts
A purely visual mix-up. accept (/əkˈsɛpt/) and accepts (/əkˈsɛpts/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “accept” sits inside “accepts”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9980, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
accept is recorded at frequency rank #1,473, classified as averb, pronounced /əkˈsɛpt/. accepts is at rank #8,507, tagged as averb, pronounced /əkˈsɛpts/.
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 9980, this pair ranks #494,633 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of accept vs accepts
Shared letters: acept. Private to "accept": -. Private to "accepts": s.
"accept" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC · "accepts" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "accept" for "accepts" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "accept" or "accepts" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "accept" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "accepts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #494,633 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "accept" and "accepts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acceptor vs accepts". 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 #494,633 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.