Which to use
“allowed” and “allows” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #985
- “allowed” frequency rank
- #2,142
- “allows” frequency rank
- 3127
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | allowed | allows |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of allow | third-person singular simple present indicative of allow |
Where the eye mixes allowed and allows
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between allowed and allows
A purely visual mix-up. allowed (/əˈlaʊd/) and allows (/əˈlaʊz/) 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 3127, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
allowed is recorded at frequency rank #985, classified as averb, pronounced /əˈlaʊd/. allows is at rank #2,142, tagged as averb, pronounced /əˈlaʊz/.
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 3127, this pair ranks #523,026 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of allowed vs allows
Shared letters: alow. Private to "allowed": de. Private to "allows": s.
"allowed" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "allows" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "allowed" for "allows" ever safe?
Frequency check: "allowed" vs "allows" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "allowed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "allows" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #523,026 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "allowed" and "allows" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "allows vs alls". 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 #523,026 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.