comervscovetWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: comer is a noun, covet is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“comer” is a noun and “covet” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#34,438
“comer” frequency rank
#36,095
“covet” frequency rank
70533
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature comer covet
Definition One in a race who is catching up to others and shows promise of winning. To wish for with eagerness; to desire possession of, often enviously.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set comer and covet apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
comer
5 ch
covet

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: comer is /ˈkʌmɚ/ while covet is /ˈkʌvɪt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70533, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

comer is recorded at frequency rank #34,438, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkʌmɚ/. covet is at rank #36,095, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkʌvɪt/.

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 70533, this pair ranks #50,198 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of comer vs covet

Shared letters: ceo. Private to "comer": mr. Private to "covet": tv.

"comer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "covet" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • comerccomer · cmoer · coemr · comerr · commer · comre · ocmer
  • covetccovet · coevt · covett · covte · covvet · cvoet · ocvet

Frequency comparison

comer#34,438
covet#36,095

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "comer" and "covet" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "comer" is a noun and "covet" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "comer" or "covet"?
"comer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,438 in our English list, against #36,095 for "covet". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering comer vs covet

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “comer”; for a verb, it's “covet”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “comer” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list