Which to use
“buy” is a verb and “buys” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #476
- “buy” frequency rank
- #7,892
- “buys” frequency rank
- 8368
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | buy | buys |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To obtain (something) in exchange for money or goods. | plural of buy |
Where the eye mixes buy and buys
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between buy and buys
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: buy is /baɪ/ while buys is /baɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “buy” sits inside “buys”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8368, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
buy is recorded at frequency rank #476, classified as averb, pronounced /baɪ/. buys is at rank #7,892, tagged as anoun, pronounced /baɪz/.
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 8368, this pair ranks #502,859 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of buy vs buys
Shared letters: buy. Private to "buy": -. Private to "buys": s.
"buy" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "buys" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- buys ← bbuys · buyss · buyys · byus · ubys
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "buy" and "buys" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "buy" or "buys" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "buy" and "buys" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "buy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "buys" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #502,859 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "buy" and "buys" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "BFS vs buys". 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 #502,859 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.