achievesvsarchivesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#18,745
“achieves” frequency rank
#6,022
“archives” frequency rank
24767
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature achieves archives
Definition third-person singular simple present indicative of achieve third-person singular simple present indicative of archive

Letter map: achieves vs archives

Shared letters muted; letters that set achieves and archives apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. achieves (VCCVVCVC) and archives (VCCCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
achieves
8 ch
archives

Spelling & dictionary notes on achieves vs archives

achieves and archives are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24767, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

achieves is recorded at frequency rank #18,745, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈt͡ʃiːvz/. archives is at rank #6,022, tagged as averb.

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 24767, this pair ranks #399,463 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of achieves vs archives

Shared letters: acehisv. Private to "achieves": -. Private to "archives": r.

"achieves" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC  ·  "archives" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • achieves ← acchieves · acheives · achhieves · achieevs · achievess · achievse · achievves · achivees
  • archives ← acrhives · arcchives · archhives · archievs · archivess · archivse · archivves · archvies

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "achieves" and "archives" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "achieves" vs "archives" - which ranks higher?
"archives" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,022 in our English list, against #18,745 for "achieves". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "achieves" vs "archives" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "achieves" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "archives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #399,463 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "achieves" and "archives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "archives vs archivist". 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 #399,463 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list