Which to use
“comments” and “contents” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,421
- “comments” frequency rank
- #5,314
- “contents” frequency rank
- 6735
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | comments | contents |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of comment | plural of content |
Where the eye mixes comments and contents
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between comments and contents
A purely visual mix-up. comments (/ˈkɑmɛnts/) and contents (/ˈkɑn.tɛnts/) 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 6735, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
comments is recorded at frequency rank #1,421, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɑmɛnts/. contents is at rank #5,314, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɑn.tɛnts/.
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 6735, this pair ranks #510,199 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of comments vs contents
Shared letters: cenost. Private to "comments": m. Private to "contents": -.
"comments" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC · "contents" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "comments" and "contents" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "comments" or "contents"?
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 "comments" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contents" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #510,199 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "comments" and "contents" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contented vs contents". 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 #510,199 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.