Which to use
“cling” is a noun and “coming” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,130
- “cling” frequency rank
- #383
- “coming” frequency rank
- 15513
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cling | coming |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit. | present participle and gerund of come |
Where the eye mixes cling and coming
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cling with coming
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cling is /ˈklɪŋ/ while coming is /ˈkʌmɪŋ/. 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 15513, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cling is recorded at frequency rank #15,130, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɪŋ/. coming is at rank #383, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkʌmɪŋ/.
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 15513, this pair ranks #463,507 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cling vs coming
Shared letters: cgin. Private to "cling": l. Private to "coming": mo.
"cling" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "coming" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cling" and "coming" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cling" or "coming"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cling" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coming" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #463,507 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cling" and "coming" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ceding vs cling". 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 #463,507 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.