Which to use
“completely” is an adverb and “completes” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,070
- “completely” frequency rank
- #14,494
- “completes” frequency rank
- 15564
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | completely | completes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In a complete manner; thoroughly. | third-person singular simple present indicative of complete |
Where the eye mixes completely and completes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: completely vs completes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: completely is /kəmˈpliːtli/ while completes is /kəmˈpliːts/. 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 (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15564, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
completely is recorded at frequency rank #1,070, classified as anadv, pronounced /kəmˈpliːtli/. completes is at rank #14,494, tagged as averb, pronounced /kəmˈpliːts/.
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 15564, this pair ranks #463,205 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of completely vs completes
Shared letters: celmopt. Private to "completely": y. Private to "completes": s.
"completely" · 10 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCV · "completes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- completely ← ccompletely · cmopletely · comlpetely · commpletely · compeltely · compleetly · completelly · completelyy
- completes ← ccompletes · cmopletes · comlpetes · commpletes · compeltes · compleets · completess · completse
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "completely" and "completes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "completely" or "completes"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "completely" and "completes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "completely" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "completes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #463,205 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "completely" and "completes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "completes vs complies". 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 #463,205 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.