Which to use
“bes” is a verb and “bests” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,697
- “bes” frequency rank
- #47,490
- “bests” frequency rank
- 80187
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bes | bests |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of be | A polite, formulaic end to a letter or email. |
Where the eye mixes bes and bests
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. bes runs 3 letters (CVC) against bests's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: bes vs bests
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bes is /biːz/ while bests is /bɛsts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “bes” sits inside “bests”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80187, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bes is recorded at frequency rank #32,697, classified as averb, pronounced /biːz/. bests is at rank #47,490, tagged as anintj, pronounced /bɛsts/.
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 80187, this pair ranks #20,384 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bes vs bests
Shared letters: bes. Private to "bes": -. Private to "bests": t.
"bes" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "bests" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bests ← bbests · bessts · bestss · bestts · bsets · ebsts
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bes" for "bests" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "bes" or "bests" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "bes" and "bests" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bests" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #20,384 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bes" and "bests" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bestie vs bests". 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 #20,384 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.