Which to use
“cases” and “costs” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #965
- “cases” frequency rank
- #1,163
- “costs” frequency rank
- 2128
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cases | costs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of case | plural of cost |
Where the eye mixes cases and costs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. cases (/ˈkeɪsɪz/) and costs (/ˈkɔsts/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2128, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cases is recorded at frequency rank #965, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkeɪsɪz/. costs is at rank #1,163, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔsts/.
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 2128, this pair ranks #525,793 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cases vs costs
Shared letters: cs. Private to "cases": ae. Private to "costs": ot.
"cases" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "costs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC