accountsvsamountsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“accounts” and “amounts” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,885
“accounts” frequency rank
#3,540
“amounts” frequency rank
5425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature accounts amounts
Definition plural of account plural of amount

Where the eye mixes accounts and amounts

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
accounts
7 ch
amounts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. accounts (/əˈkaʊnts/) and amounts (/əˈmaʊnts/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

accounts is recorded at frequency rank #1,885, classified as anoun, pronounced /əˈkaʊnts/. amounts is at rank #3,540, tagged as anoun, pronounced /əˈmaʊnts/.

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 5425, this pair ranks #515,374 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of accounts vs amounts

Shared letters: anostu. Private to "accounts": c. Private to "amounts": m.

"accounts" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCC  ·  "amounts" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • accountsacconuts · accounnts · accounst · accountss · accountts · accoutns · accuonts · acocunts
  • amountsammounts · amonuts · amounnts · amounst · amountss · amountts · amoutns · amuonts

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "accounts" and "amounts" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/əˈkaʊnts/ versus /əˈmaʊnts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "accounts" or "amounts"?
"accounts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,885 in our English list, against #3,540 for "amounts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list