Which to use
“case” is a noun and “close” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #255
- “case” frequency rank
- #431
- “close” frequency rank
- 686
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | case | close |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An actual event, situation, or fact. | To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through. |
Where the eye mixes case and close
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: case is /keɪs/ while close is /kləʊz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
case is recorded at frequency rank #255, classified as anoun, pronounced /keɪs/. close is at rank #431, tagged as averb, pronounced /kləʊz/.
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 686, this pair ranks #528,979 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of case vs close
Shared letters: ces. Private to "case": a. Private to "close": lo.
"case" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "close" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV