Which to use
“complies” is a verb and “copies” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,373
- “complies” frequency rank
- #3,419
- “copies” frequency rank
- 33792
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | complies | copies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of comply | plural of copy |
Where the eye mixes complies and copies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. complies runs 8 letters (CVCCCVVC) against copies's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses complies with copies
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: complies is /kəmˈplaɪz/ while copies is /ˈkɑpiz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33792, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
complies is recorded at frequency rank #30,373, classified as averb, pronounced /kəmˈplaɪz/. copies is at rank #3,419, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɑpiz/.
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 33792, this pair ranks #326,383 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of complies vs copies
Shared letters: ceiops. Private to "complies": lm. Private to "copies": -.
"complies" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC · "copies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "complies" and "copies" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "complies" or "copies" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "complies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "copies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #326,383 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "complies" and "copies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "competes 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 #326,383 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.