Which to use
“achieve” and “achieves” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,607
- “achieve” frequency rank
- #18,745
- “achieves” frequency rank
- 21352
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | achieve | achieves |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To succeed in something, now especially in academic performance. | third-person singular simple present indicative of achieve |
Where the eye mixes achieve and achieves
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. achieve runs 7 letters (VCCVVCV) against achieves's 8 (VCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses achieve with achieves
A purely visual mix-up. achieve (/əˈt͡ʃiːv/) and achieves (/əˈt͡ʃiːvz/) 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) - “achieve” sits inside “achieves”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21352, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
achieve is recorded at frequency rank #2,607, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈt͡ʃiːv/. achieves is at rank #18,745, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈt͡ʃiːvz/.
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 21352, this pair ranks #424,539 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of achieve vs achieves
Shared letters: acehiv. Private to "achieve": -. Private to "achieves": s.
"achieve" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV · "achieves" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "achieve" and "achieves" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "achieve" or "achieves" 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 "achieve" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "achieves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #424,539 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "achieve" and "achieves" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "achieves vs Achilles". 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 #424,539 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.