Which to use
“competency” is a noun and “competently” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,317
- “competency” frequency rank
- #45,284
- “competently” frequency rank
- 65601
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | competency | competently |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The ability to perform some task; competence. | In a competent manner. |
Letter map: competency vs competently
Shared letters muted; letters that set competency and competently apart highlighted. Shared run: 9.
Grammar separator: competency vs competently
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: competency is anoun and competentlyanadverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
competency is recorded at frequency rank #20,317, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɒm.pə.tən.si/. competently is at rank #45,284, tagged as anadv.
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 65601, this pair ranks #71,962 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of competency vs competently
Shared letters: cemnopty. Private to "competency": -. Private to "competently": l.
"competency" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV · "competently" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- competency ← ccompetency · cmopetency · comeptency · commpetency · compeetncy · competecny · competenccy · competencyy
- competently ← ccompetently · cmopetently · comeptently · commpetently · compeetntly · competenlty · competenntly · competentlly
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "competency" and "competently" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "competency" or "competently" show up more?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "competency" and "competently".
- Full dictionary entry for "competency" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "competently" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #71,962 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "competency" and "competently" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "competent vs competently". 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 #71,962 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.