Which to use
“advance” is a verb and “advances” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,241
- “advance” frequency rank
- #6,204
- “advances” frequency rank
- 8445
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | advance | advances |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To promote or advantage. | plural of advance |
Letter map: advance vs advances
Shared letters muted; letters that set advance and advances apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. advance runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against advances's 8 (VCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: advance vs advances
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: advance is averb and advancesanoun. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “advance” sits inside “advances”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8445, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
advance is recorded at frequency rank #2,241, classified as averb, pronounced /ədˈvɑːns/. advances is at rank #6,204, tagged as anoun.
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 8445, this pair ranks #502,458 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of advance vs advances
Shared letters: acdenv. Private to "advance": -. Private to "advances": s.
"advance" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "advances" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "advance" and "advances" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "advance" vs "advances" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "advance" and "advances". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "advance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "advances" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #502,458 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "advance" and "advances" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "advances vs advices". 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 #502,458 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.