delivervsdiverWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,724
“deliver” frequency rank
#16,892
“diver” frequency rank
19616
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature deliver diver
Definition To set free from restraint or danger. Someone who dives, especially as a sport.

Where the eye mixes deliver and diver

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
deliver
5 ch
diver

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deliver is /dɪˈlɪvə(ɹ)/ while diver is /ˈdaɪ̯və(ɹ)/. 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 19616, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

deliver is recorded at frequency rank #2,724, classified as averb, pronounced /dɪˈlɪvə(ɹ)/. diver is at rank #16,892, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdaɪ̯və(ɹ)/.

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 19616, this pair ranks #436,922 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of deliver vs diver

Shared letters: deirv. Private to "deliver": l. Private to "diver": -.

"deliver" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "diver" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deliverddeliver · deilver · delievr · deliverr · delivre · delivver · delliver · delvier
  • diverddiver · dievr · diverr · divre · divver · dvier · idver

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "deliver" and "diver" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "deliver" is a verb and "diver" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "deliver" or "diver"?
"deliver" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,724 in our English list, against #16,892 for "diver". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list