Which to use
“cares” and “carries” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,606
- “cares” frequency rank
- #4,831
- “carries” frequency rank
- 8437
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cares | carries |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of care | third-person singular simple present indicative of carry |
Where the eye mixes cares and carries
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cares runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against carries's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: cares vs carries
A purely visual mix-up. cares (/kɛɹz/) and carries (/ˈkæɹ.ɪz/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8437, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cares is recorded at frequency rank #3,606, classified as averb, pronounced /kɛɹz/. carries is at rank #4,831, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkæɹ.ɪz/.
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 8437, this pair ranks #502,491 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cares vs carries
Shared letters: acers. Private to "cares": -. Private to "carries": i.
"cares" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "carries" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cares" for "carries" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cares" vs "carries" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cares" and "carries" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cares" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "carries" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #502,491 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cares" and "carries" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cares vs cates". 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 #502,491 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.